In the Hands of Mischief
by lightofthenine
Summary: Elle works at S.H.I.E.L.D. as a computer technician. When she is handed a piece of information that could destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. in 24 hours, she finds herself the unwilling subject of Loki's attention. She could be the key he needs for his plan to succeed. Set during the avengers. Loki/OC. rated T. slightly AU.
1. visitor

It was during one of the few breaks that I get when I first saw the Tesseract.

I hadn't heard or known much about it previous to the day when I received a yellow manila folder in the mail from a visitor explaining that I was being reassigned from S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters to a new location called Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.

At home (and home is Rochester, New York), I was in the middle of a phone call with my older sister, Katie.

It had been a long week, and I had just woken up from a surprisingly good sleep. I rolled over to look at the glaringly red numbers of my alarm clock, and smiled with satisfaction: 3 more hours of precious sleep. But just as I settled it for the long haul, my phone began to buzz.

Rubbing my forehead, I rolled over onto my side and groped on the wooden side table, nearly knocking off my clock in the process. I felt the smooth screen of my phone, and pressed the green call button.

"Hello?" I mumbled sleepily, refusing to open my eyes.

"Good morning, Elle," Katie responded, her voice dripping with disapproval. "Did I wake you?"

_Here we go._

"Yes," I answered honestly with a sigh, curling my comforter around my body tighter.

"Good. You know, you really have an obscure sleep schedule," she noted. "You literally sleep all day on the weekends. It's already 1 p.m."

"Sorry I'm not sorry," I replied dryly, tired of hearing her nagging about my body's internal clock. "What do you want? I still have least 3 more hours of sleep."

"Calling to see if you have any free time next week to see your niece." I opened my eyes then, feeling guilty at her words. "Megan wants to see you, and Rupert thought it would be nice to invite you on a family outing," she continued lightly.

Megan was my seven year old niece. After graduating from college with a degree in English Literature, Katie wasted no time finding a husband and getting pregnant with her first child.

_Shit. _

"Unless you're too busy working at the FBI," she snapped. "What do you they make you do there 24/7? You are literally typing on a computer, I don't see why you don't have time for your own family!"

"It's not my fault, Katie," I sighed. "My work schedule isn't made up, and...well, the government needs me."

Chances of her ever knowing that I don't work at the FBI are zero.

"Elliot Pedagia, you're going to let your own niece grow up without you? She's already 7! She'll be ten before you know it, then 16, then 21..."

"Katie, I don't need this lecture from you," I moaned, rolling onto my back and staring at the ceiling in the dark. "I'm sorry I'm busy, but if I ever, _ever _get any free time, I'll come visit."

"The _weekends _are free time," she shot back. "Instead you're sleeping all the time..." I tuned her out when I picked up the sound of my doorbell ringing.

_No one ever visits my house. It had better be something important. _

As Katie continued her rant, I threw back the sheets and stood up, stretching my back. In the darkness, I groped for my plush purple robe that was hanging inside of my closet, and put it on, listening to her babbling.

"Katie, you don't get that I work for a government organization," I tried, walking down the stairs. "I don't have a say in that." _This had better be damn important, _I thought again, rubbing sleep from my eyes. I crossed my living room over to the window and leaned on the gray couch to push aside the drapes. My eyes swept the street to see if there was a van outside, but I saw nothing. Leaning a little bit further, I peered onto the deck of my house. A man dressed in black pants and a black shirt was standing there, bouncing on his heels, waiting. He adjusted the black baseball cap on his head.

_Could be work, _I surmised, hopping off the couch. Regardless, I opened a large, jeweled treasure chest that rested on my wooden desk. Next to it was my computer. Inside were some pens and stamps that I kept handy when I needed to send letters. There was also handy item inside. Feeling along the side of the velvet lining, I pressed a switch that opened the top to reveal my handgun resting at the bottom. I checked to see that it was loaded, and then I made my way over to the door.

Clearing my throat, I turned the knob and opened it, greeting my visitor with a fake smile. The hand with my gun was hidden behind the door. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"You have been reassigned," my visitor said, a knowing smile playing on his lips. "Beginning next week you will be stationed at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S."

_It's work. _"Katie, I gotta go," I mumbled hastily, ending the call before I could hear her protestations. I dropped the phone into my pocket. "What is this?"

His eyes danced as he handed me a yellow manila folder, sealed with the emblem of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Read this information. You will report to headquarters at 0500 and then transported to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S." With a tip of his hat, he turned on his heel, and walked down the stairs, crossed my lawn, and then climbed into a black SUV that was stationed further down the road. I frowned and closed the door, opening the folder with my finger.

I raised my eyes to the coffee machine resting on the counter of my kitchen. _Looks like I'll be up late tonight._


	2. the tesseract

My whole weekend was consumed with Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. I had planned to spend my weekend doing what I usually do-eating, sleeping, and going to the store to buy more food for eating. Instead I found myself sitting at my desk, typing away on my computer, with papers and files and desks spread around me.

I picked up one of the letters enclosed in the packet. 'Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S' was emblazoned in black font on the top of the page.

"We've investigated some crazy things, but this is unbelievable," I murmured quietly, opening up a file enclosed on a small disk. It was labelled 'Tesseract.' When I clicked it, an image appeared on my screen of a glowing blue cube.

_So, the Tesseract is a tiny cube, _I thought to myself, looking at the touchscreen computer next to my treasure chest. _And it's that important. _Clicking on another file called 'History', three documents scattered across the screen. I clicked the nearest open document, and it zoomed in further on the text. I adjusted my reading glasses.

"Originally guarded by Asgardians," I read aloud. _Aliens. More alien technology. _The Tesseract was lost during the last age of worship by men on Earth, according to the file, and was recovered during the 1940's by Johann Schmidt. After reading more information on him, I knew why his name sounded familiar.

Years ago, S.H.I.E.L.D. recovered the body of Steve Rogers, better known as "Captain America." After stealing the Tesseract from Schmidt, he crashed the plane containing the object into the ice. Somehow, he survived, and only woke up a few weeks ago, after 70 years.

_So the aliens lost it, we found it. _I opened another file called 'Objectives.'

_Experiments will be conducted on the Tesseract in order to solve the alternative energy crisis. _

The rest of the objectives weren't important to me. I pursed my lips. "An alien cube emits energy. They want to use it for energy purposes." I sighed tiredly and glanced at the clock. It was now 10 p.m., and tomorrow I have to be at headquarters early to prepare for my reassignment. And I still had to go over Selvig's notes on extraction theories.

I turned off the touchscreen and leaned back in my chair, removing my glasses. "What are they calling me in for?" I muttered. "I type on computers."

During my college years, the big thing was "computer science." All of my advisors recommended computer science, that it was the "way to go" and it will bring me thousands upon thousands of dollars, and I would be able to retire by age 40. I'm 23. Seventeen years to go.

I'm not saying that my degree isn't useful. I graduated from MIT, took an exam, and the next thing I knew, I had two S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents knocking at my door to recruit me to join. Did I have a choice? Well, not really. My scores were high, and they wanted talented people. I had no idea that I was joining an organization decided to defending the Earth against extra-terrestrials.

My rank at S.H.I.E.L.D. was simply 'technician.' Truthfully, my time is spent at a computer station, monitoring the online systems, reporting new information, managing communications, etc. I was only deemed a technician because the next highest level is "administrator." I'm considered a computer technician, whereas those who manage the engines are engineering technicians. It has many sub-divisions.

I surmised that at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., I was going to monitor the Cube's activity, report new information on it, and research any information on the Tesseract that I could find. Perhaps provide reports proving that the Tesseract would solve the energy crisis.

I blew air from my lips and shut down my computer. As I walked upstairs to my room, I grabbed my freshly laundered suit out of a laundry basket.

* * *

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters was a mess when I arrived the next morning.

The control room was a teeming mass of loud voices, bodies rushing in every direction. Technicians, engineers, field agents, and officers rushed around me, carrying tablets, folders, and papers with a purposeful air. After a long security process, a walk through the dark tunnel, and this is what I get? A mess?

Two engineers rushed past me and ran down the set of stairs that lead to the basement, and also contained other computer business that I don't know too well. Next to me was a large desk, stationed with a computer, and other computer screens connected to the cameras installed in the building. Behind the desk was an older man, who was typing hastily on a keyboard.

I stifled a yawn and stepped forward as the automatic doors slid closed behind me. I took one last sip of lukewarm coffee and adjusted my earpiece, walking forward. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control room was mammoth sized, built with the strong steel money could buy, and embellished on the ceiling was the logo, which was a circle containing a black eagle with red eyes, as the spelling of the anagram around it.

In front of me were 20 or so rows of computer stations, with a computer technician typing at each one, either talking into their earpiece, or remaining silent. I don't know any of my fellow technicians. I'm not much of a talker, for one, and we're all so engrossed in our work we don't have time to talk. Typically, I would walk towards the computers and type my day away. Instead I walked over to the reception desk, something I'm not used to.

"I've been reassigned," I explained, standing up straight in front of the older man, who glanced at me unwillingly while still typing. "I was told to come here to be transported."

He raised his eyes after I said that, and then he pressed his hands to the earpiece in his ear. "Coulson. We have another one for you. Wait here," he said, resuming his typing. "Agent Coulson will escort you to the vehicle."

I shifted away from the desk awkwardly, and looked at the large monitor ahead of me that had video footage coming from areas all over the world. Paris. New Delhi. Moscow.

I adjusted my uniform with a sigh. The standard here was a blue jacket with a half-zip, the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on the upper right arm, dark blue pants with black patches, and a belt to holster our standard sidearm. The material never really agrees with my skin-it's made of some sort of spandex. I looked down at my black boots and decided I needed a new pair soon.

"Pedagia?" a cool voice asked behind me. I stood upright to turn and eye my escort-he was relatively short for a man, with brown hair, parted on the side, hazel eyes, a dark blue suit, an air of confidence and a low tolerance for bullshit. However, a knowing smile touched his rather stoic face. "I'm here to escort you to vehicle."

I wanted to raise my hand to shake his, but he had already begun walking, and I had no choice but to follow him. I glanced over my shoulder to look at the control room again and decided that I wasn't going to miss it much.


	3. project pegasus

"I'm going to assume you've done the required research on the Tesseract," Agent Coulson said, admiring his blue and grey striped tie. "If you haven't, you'll be very behind, and Director Fury won't like that." He turned to face the road, silent. I awkwardly glanced at him again, and then leaned around the driver's seat to look at the stretch of highway we'd been driving for miles. The sun was just now beginning to come up, lighting up the sky in a range of pinks, yellows, and purples. I leaned back tiredly in the back seat, closing my eyes for a moment.

_A glowing blue box with the potential to power the Earth for millions of years. _

Director Fury was pulling S.H.I.E.L.D. members to research a cube?

I didn't know much about Directory Fury other than the fact that his first name was Nick. His name was whispered around headquarters, and it was enough to make your heart race. I first met him upon my arrival at S.H.I.E.L.D. after I was recruited. And he scared the hell out of me.

It's very nerve-wracking to stare into one, solitary dark eye, staring right through you. You wanted to ask so many questions when you saw the black eye-patch he wore, and wonder what scars were radiating from beneath it and why. It was hard to miss him. He always wore a black trench-coat over a black zip-up jacket, black pants, and black combat boots. Fury radiated power. If he told you to throw yourself off a cliff, you'd better do it before he shoots you first.

There was one instance early on, during my first year at S.H.I.E.L.D., when he walked past my row of computer stations and I broke into a cold-sweat, my pulse took off, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as his one lone eye swept the room to make sure no one was distracted from the task at hand.

"Pedagia," Coulson's voice said next to me. I opened my eyes sleepily and realized that I'd actually dozed off. My face began to warm at the possibility that I snored.

The smirk that tugged at Coulson's face was enough of an indication. "You won't have any time to sleep on the helicopter. I'm glad you got a nice doze."

Still smirking, he opened the car door and exited the vehicle, slipping some black sunglasses on. I looked out of the tinted windows of the car to see that we had stopped near the Hudson River, where a black helicopter with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo was waiting for us, its spinning blades an indication that it was ready for takeoff.

* * *

Everything that had happened in the past 24 hours happened so damn quickly I didn't know what to make of it.

After a 3 hour helicopter ride, I found myself staring a large building complex spanning a least half a mile long. The helicopter landed on the landing pad and I listened as the whir of the blades began to slow. Coulson climbed out easily while I struggled to remove my seatbelt.

"Sir!" I heard Coulson call. "We have another."

"Good," a deep voice responded, sounding anything but pleased. I sighed with relief when I removed the safety device and stood up, my legs feeling stiff. I crawled out of the helicopter and looked around me; the skies were dark, which surprised me because it was only 9 in the morning.

Waiting outside of the helicopter was Agent Coulson, a woman with dark hair whom I'd seen once or twice, and Director Nick Fury.

I'm not very good at hiding emotions. I never have been. That's why I would never be able to be a field agent. As I crossed the land platform to greet him, I felt my heartbeat pick up, and my eyes widened as his towering figure came closer. As if the moment wasn't intimidating enough, a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

"Pedagia," Fury greeted me coldly, his large dark hands clasped in front of him. "Welcome to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. You did the research?"

"Yes, sir," I managed, glancing at the woman, who was clearly sizing me up.

"Agent Maria Hill will show you to the computer stations we have set up for you, and she'll instruct you on your orders. Coulson, with me," Fury said, turning to the shorter man. He stalked off in the other direction and Coulson easily kept up with his long strides.

Maria walked towards me and stuck out her hand. "As he said, Maria Hill. Welcome to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S." She had dark brown hair, tied into a bun, side-swept bangs, and green eyes that held determination and something that looked like pity.

"Elle Pedagia," I murmured, shaking it and wincing at her firm grip.

"Pedagia, your job at P.E.G.A.S.U.S. will be to monitor energy levels of the Tesseract," she began, walking towards a set of doors that lead into the complex. "You will also maintain communication with Dr. Eric Selvig. He was recently recruited to experiment on the Tesseract. In addition, you will monitor security. If an unauthorized person, or vehicle enters the building, it will be your responsibility to report."

"So...I'm not doing anything...really, with computers," I clarified, following her down a gray tunnel, lovely adorned by guards with large guns. "My expertise mostly comes from monitoring information systems, virus control, satellite navigation systems...data management, things like that." I glanced warily at one of the guards who stood next to a glowing monitor screen.

Maria regarded me with a look that made it clear I didn't have a say in my responsibilities. "Your responsibilities also include data management. We are under constant pressure to release updated information on the Tesseract experiment to our superiors. With each new development, we progress further. You're aware that we had to do a lot of work to find it."

"Of course," I said with a hasty nod, backtracking. "Is Dr. Selvig here?"

"He's been here for hours," Maria replied with a roll of her eyes. "Man never stops working." We stopped in front of two glass doors. She pulled a card from her pocket and swiped it through a card reader, and then the doors opened. "You'll also be receiving a new I.D. Card. Your classification level has increased as well."

"Is that anything important?" I asked curiously, wondering what the highest level could be.

"It means you get to open a new folder on a computer, really," Maria responded, a smug look on her face.

"What's your level?"

"Higher than yours," she responded with a tight smile, pivoting to face me. We had walked into an enormous room. We must have been in the basement, because on either side of us were two sets of stairs ascending upwards. My eyes followed as the staircase continued higher and higher. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to be in shape during my time here. "Behind me is Dr. Selvig's temporary lab. Unless you have good reason, you have no reason to be in there. Upstairs is where the command center is, where you'll be working during the duration of your stay." The lab was a small, gray box situated directly beneath the command center. Behind Maria, two technicians carrying touchscreen computers hastily walked through an open door. I shifted to look past her and I could faintly see blue light reflecting on the walls.

"How long is my stay?" Not one soul had informed me of how long I was going to be assigned to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Temporarily? Permanently? Is there a place to sleep, to eat?

Maria fixed with me with a determined smile. "As long as it takes to find a suitable use for the Tesseract's energy. Consider it an extended vacation? This location does stretch for nearly a mile, and it contains units for S.H.I.E.L.D. members to live in. Standard bed, desk, restroom, food is provided. We already have field agents on location at your residence bringing your clothes, laptop, and that _adorable _jeweled treasure chest of yours."

_That was quick, _I thought with irritation, imagining people walking through my house, touching my things.

"Once the project is completed, you can return home and back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters," Maria added, her eyes drifting upwards. "I'll take you to your computer station." She began to ascend the winding staircase. I took my careful time, leaning backwards to catch a glimpse of the marvelous blue box that has S.H.I.E.L.D. so captivated.


	4. new home

It's safe to say that in under 24 hours, I found myself relocated and dumped in the middle of nowhere, working on a project that I cared little about. After meeting some fellow computer technicians, I lapsed into silence and busily typed away on the computer, learning some new procedures and information about the database. The only thing that distracted me was a small application permanently assigned to the right corner of the screen, constantly monitoring the Tesseract's levels. Three blue bars with words beneath them clearly meant for a thermonuclear astrophysicist kept my attention, and I watched as the bars fell and rose sporadically.

I learned that for the most part, I would be working three four hour shifts during the day. After my time was up, another technician would take my place. Maria warned me during those four hours when I wasn't working, I was expected to be in my assigned unit, either sleeping or eating. Wandering around the complex wasn't something I was allowed to do-or that I wanted to-mostly because the complex was so huge that I'd surely get lost. I've never been good with directions. I would never be able to make it as a field agent because I'd probably send everyone towards a bomb by mistake.

When I arrived to my new home, it was two in the morning. My first official day began at 0700, and if I was late, I would have Fury to deal with.

The unit was nothing impressive, like Maria promised-it was a 4x4 square, gray box. A small metal desk, was pressed against the front wall, which had a small window and pull down shades. To the right of the desk was a small wooden dresser. To my left was a plain bed, built for one, with cream colored sheets. Resting at the foot of the bed was my mint-green comforter, which made me smile. _At least there's something familiar. _Last but not least, the mother load: a fridge, stocked with frozen dinners, sandwiches, water and snacks.

Although the room was small, it did have a very small bathroom adjacent to it, with nothing more than a plain toilet, a sink, and shower.

Sliding the dresser drawers open, I saw all of my clothes, with the exception of my nice things. I supposed that female agents infiltrated my house.

My laptop, treasure chest, and touchscreen computer beckoned me to use them, but I first had to shower. The temperature in here was comfortable, but I'm always warm.

"Don't worry," I said aloud, talking to my electronics as I peeled off my uniform. "I'll be back soon." My showers had been no more than 10 minutes since chopping off my hair three years ago into a pixie cut-which Katie vehemently protested because it made me look like a lesbian (I'm not)-but it made my life easier. My natural hair color was a dark blonde, but I dyed it a dark brown a while ago.

"Shit," I murmured, wrapping myself in a towel. "Where's my hair dye?"

* * *

Once I had changed into clothes that allowed my skin to breathe, I sat down in front of my computer and opened up my emails. The subject line made me cringe with guilt. Again.

"Where the hell are you," I murmured to myself, smiling sadly as I opened the email. I sighed sadly as I read Katie's email with regret: Rupert had been _so _adamant, she wrote, to see me, that he insisted they drive to my house and surprise me. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that my house was being put up for sale, and I was nowhere to be found. The sign was merely a ruse, but they would never know that.

"What if she called Mom and Dad?" I moaned. They're just as bad as Katie. If Katie doesn't call me during the weekends to complain, my parents do. They threaten to drive from Chicago to see me themselves if I won't visit them.

"Sorry, Katie," I sighed, glancing at the picture of Megan sitting on my desk. Katie sent it to me after her first ballet recital. Megan was a beautiful child, with curly golden locks and wide, blue eyes she inherits from the Pedagia side of the family, and a hunger for knowledge. She began her, "why?" phase at the age of 4 and haven't stopped since. Katie predicts that she'll become a scientist when she's grown. In the photo, Megan was on stage with her fellow dancers, perfectly poised in a pirouette position, wearing a fluffy pink tutu. I smiled ruefully at the photo to set it to the side, and then opened an email, prepared to make up some bullshit response.

A sharp rap at the door made me sigh loudly and I stood up with a grunt. When I opened the door, I found myself staring at a girl who had to be barely eighteen, wearing a white tank top and Tweety Bird pajama bottoms, her blond hair pulled into pigtails, and smiling animatedly at me. Her hazel eyes lit up with excitement when I looked at her face.

But it's 2:20 a.m. How the heck are you smiling?

"Can I help you?" I asked her, keeping my voice level to hide my irritation. _I literally have to send this email and shove off. _

"I think they delivered this to the wrong room," she answered, her voice playful as she held out her hand. "This is your new I.D. I think the guy is pretty damn tired, he just kicked it under the door!" The I.D. Didn't really look any different that mine, other than the words Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. written above the horrible picture of me. I never take good photos.

"Thanks," I murmured, stepping backwards to close the door. Before I had the chance, she stuck her pale white hand out.

"My name's Katherine, but everyone calls me Kat," she added with a full grin. Pressing my lips together, I forced a smile and shook her hand. "I guess we're neighbors. You just moved in? How're you likin' everything?" Her Southern accent made this situation even more amusing.

I shrugged noncommittally. "Small, but I'll manage. Um...I mean, I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Right, right," she agreed with a quiet laugh. "Well, I'll leave you be, we all gotta sleep, right?" She winked at me and then slid over to her open door, closing it gently.

I smiled to myself as I closed the door. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has no age restrictions? Interesting. I should have gotten involved in this organization earlier." I set the I.D. on the wooden dresser.

_Eh, maybe not, _I thought, settling down to write my apologetic email. _This is already bad enough. _I did enjoy my work at S.H.I.E.L.D. for the most part: I got to work with computers, which is what I do best. I helped to stop threats against the human race, and I got paid a substantial amount of money for doing it.

I just wish that S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't tearing my family apart.


	5. kat

Waking up the next morning was horrific because I woke up three minutes before my alarm went off. I either had the option to go to sleep for 180 seconds more, or turn off the thing before it woke up the entire corridor. I chose the latter because I'm a nice person. Begrudgingly, I rolled out of bed, slipped into my uniform, holstered my sidearm, and tucked my new I.D. into my pocket. After eating a breakfast sandwich, I left the corridor and walked towards the command center.

I was greeted with the familiar site of technicians, engineers and officers rushing around the command center. On the large overhead monitor was the global video feed.

For a minute, an image flashed on the screen and I thought it was the Tesseract. As quickly as the image appeared, it disappeared, and I felt disappointed as I slid into my chair, putting my earpiece in.

"Hi," a giggly voice said next to me. Kat wiggled her fingers at me, as well as her eyebrows. "'Magine that, you're a technician too!" Her blond hair was no longer in pigtails, but a military bun, which made her look a little more mature. Those Tweety Bird pajamas were gone, too.

"Guess so," I said with a sigh, looking at the small application in the corner again. "You don't look old enough to be a technician, though. No offense." I pulled up recent logs and a live feed of all the cameras in the buildings. I wasn't used to having this sort of authority. The majority of the cameras showed members running around the building doing something important. Outside, a squadron was going through morning exercises, running together. Someone else was outside working on one of the helicopters.

"I'm 18," Kat replied, her lip pouting as she adjusted her earpiece. "I know I've got a baby's face, but I'm an adult, Miss Elle."

"Don't need to do that," I said with exasperation, checking logs to see who swiped in and out since I went to sleep. "I'm not even that old, anyway."

"How old are you? And how'd you manage to find S.H.I.E.L.D.? Or did they find you?"

I glanced over the head of my computer station, looking at the global video feeds. "They found me, isn't that how it always happens? And I'm 25. They snagged me fresh out of college."

"True," Kat agreed gravely, typing quickly on her computer. She lapsed into silence. I finished checking the logs, satisfied that things looked "normal."

"Um...how did they steal an 18 year old?"

"I graduated college 4 years ago," Kat sighed sadly. "Child genius, one of those things."

I sank into my chair a bit, feeling moody. _Everyone's a child genius nowadays. _Feeling sulky, I continued typing on the screen, running antivirus software as protocol required. If any data was stolen or sabotaged, the project was going to be closed.

"You know, Miss Elle, you have really pretty blue eyes," Kat noted absently, still typing on her computer. "They kinda remind me of sapphires...you know, them blue gems?"

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and smiled a little. "Thanks, Kat."

"You're welcome, Miss Elle."

* * *

**super short chapter, i made it so short because the next one is crazy long and it would just take forever. and besides, that's where the fun starts. thanks to those who subscribed, hope you enjoy it.**


	6. it's misbehaving!

The next two weeks dragged on forever.

One morning, after I finished my first shift, I immediately shuffled back to my room for some deserved R&R. I slept for 3 hours and 55 minutes, and then I woke up with just enough time to get to my computer station and stick my earpiece in my ear. I found Kat sitting at her station already when I arrived. During this shift, she was quieter, solely focused on her work.

I was about to open my mouth and ask her why she was so quiet when I heard static in my ear. "Pedagia, this is Sullivan, Chief Network Specialist. Did you run an anti-virus scan as instructed? My reports showed you were scheduled to run it this morning." I hadn't met Sullivan in person, but I knew he was my go-to supervisor. His voice sounded rough in my ears as he barked instructions.

_I'm in trouble, _I thought immediately, scrambling to pull up the logs. "Yes, sir. I have my logs here showing that-"

"Run them again, and scan disks F and J, sections 2 and 3. We found something suspicious down here. If you find anything, I want you to send a tracer to the connecting email address that I assume is associated with it. Once you have it, contact Agent Coulson."

"Yes, sir," I replied, mind-boggled. _How could anything have gotten past the massive firewalls that guard this entire system?_

I discovered that there was some suspicious activity in the hard drives, and I immediately set up a tracer like I was instructed. Unfortunately didn't get a response from the tracer by the time my four hours were up. The person who arrives after me, an ex-Army veteran, didn't receive an results either.

By my third shift, I opened the tracing program standard on the computers, and sighed with relief when I saw that it made more progress. I tapped my earpiece, clearing my throat. "Sullivan, sir?"

"It is done?" he demanded, sounding irritated. "It's been eight hours!"

"I'm sorry sir, the tracer is responding slowly," I said apologetic, tapping my fingers nervously on the mouse, wishing it would hurry up. The blue progress bar was nearly 3/4 of the way done. "It will be done by 3 a.m., I promise you."

"Fine," he said through his teeth. "It had better."

I exhaled shakily and sank into my chair, glaring at the computer screen. "What is taking this so long? It'll be on my head if it doesn't show up."

"What's the problem?" Kat asked me quietly. I sighed with disgust at the screen and looked at her.

"Tracer's taking forever to come back. Are you okay?" I inquired, noticing how she was barely keeping her eyes open. "You look...exhausted."

"I'm still trying to get used to this schedule...thing," she said dismissively, waving her hand. "It's hard."

"How long have you been here?"

"Six months."

I fiddled with my holster, looking down. "Yeah, it...it takes a while." I raised my eyes to the screen and sighed with relief; it was at 95 percent.

Kat was facing the screen again, executing commands in a programming application. "How's your family doing?"

"Oh, they're doing fine! I visit them once a week when I get the chance," she responded eagerly, her face coming to life.

"That's good," I responded stoically. "Real good." A quiet ding came from my computer and I sat up, relieved to see that the tracer was finished. The email address was alberik at anonymouse dot org._  
_

The program explained more detail about the person behind the account, named Alberik Gesilv, located in Stockholm, Sweden. I exhaled with relief and attempted to contact Coulson, but he didn't respond.

"Sullivan?" I asked meekly.

"It is done?"

"Yes, sir. Coulson isn't responding to my attempts to contact him."

"Give me details, and once he's available, I'll tell him."

"His name is Alberik Gesilv, located in Stockholm, Sweden."

"Excellent. We'll get the bastard. Good work, Pedagia." I physically slumped with relief in my chair and found Kat smiling at me.

"Great job, Miss Elle."

"Thanks, Kat."

* * *

The ex-Army veteran stumbled into his chair when I finished my work. I yawned tiredly, feeling a little sorry for the fact that he had to work through the sunrise. Kat left an hour earlier than I did. I nodded at Sullivan, who had come up from the basement to oversee operations, and he glanced at me and inclined his head slightly, his face devoid of emotion.

"Wait, Pedagia," Sullivan's voice barked from behind, and I froze in my steps. "I need you to take this touchscreen down to Dr. Selvig."

_To the lab? _I accepted the touchscreen he gave me, staring at it with astonishment for a few minutes before straightening myself and walking to the stairs. Composing myself, I walked down the stairs at a normal pace. Once I disappeared, I set into a slight jog, keeping my hands tight on the touchscreen. When I reached the last stair I composed myself and strolled towards the entrance. I climbed up a small set of stairs and peered around the corner.

Dr. Selvig's lab was bigger than I had thought. Perhaps I'd somehow missed the fact that Dr. Selvig's lap was a huge room, with a stretch that stretched to the sky, shaped like a cone. The room stretched on for ages. Scientists wearing white lab coats stood by, their hands clasped behind them, offering assistance when needed. Other guards stood nearby, their eyes following the scientists as they rushed around, their hands clasped firmly on their large machine guns.

Resting atop a small stage was the Tesseract.

The blue cube was surrounded by three rings of steel, set in place by what looked like a glowing red ring. The rings of steel were held in place by thick, metal rods attached an even larger silver ring that must have been made of impenetrable metal. Finally, surrounding that was a thick gold ring that held the entire contraption together.

Amazed, I walked into the lab, staring curiously at the cube. It was glowing, that much was sure, but it looked like there were strands, or wisps of blue light floating inside. _Pure energy. Enough to destroy the Earth but enough to power it for years. _

My eyes picked out Dr. Selvig from the rest of the scientists; he was dressed casually, in dark gray pants, blue-gray tie, a blue and green plaid shirt, and black shoes. I approached him timidly, listening to him babble in physics to his assistants. I stopped in front of the Tesseract, now realizing that the red ring was just red light. The steel contraption holding the Tesseract extended further back into the holding contraption.

Dr. Selvig was bent over, examining the Tesseract, and then he saw me. He stood upright, picking some sort of long rod off of a metal plate. "Can I help you?" he said over the voices of his assistants and the sound of whirring in the background.

"I was instructed to give this to you by Sullivan," I responded, holding up the touchscreen. He glanced at me and reluctantly put the instrument down. Selvig ascended down the small set of stairs, reaching for the touchscreen. He was certainly an older man, at least in his fifties, with thinning blonde hair and gray eyes that gave nothing away. As he read the information in the computer, it was hard to tell if he was pleased or upset. His face seemed to be set into a permanent grimace.

I bounced on the balls of my feet, waiting. I looked around past Selvig to see a small black platform on the other side of the room, connected, somehow to the stage holding the Tesseract. Above the portal was a hole that revealed the night sky. It occurred to me then that I hadn't seen the sky in days.

"You're a computer technician," he muttered under his breath, sliding his fingertips across the screen. "Go back to your computer station and give me some readings on the cube."

"I...is something wrong?" I stammered.

"We're reading something funny on the Tesseract and I want to be sure it's everywhere, not just here. If there's something wrong with the equipment, we can just make adjustments." He snapped the touchscreen closed and handed it back to me. "Give that to Sullivan, check the readings, and come back to me."


	7. the silver disk

I nodded quickly, feeling a little excited at the idea that I might help Dr. Selvig with his research. I left the lab and quickly ascended the stairs until I reached the command center. Panting a little, I found Sullivan talking quietly with another man holding a tablet.

"Sullivan," I breathed, approaching him slowly. He glanced over at me and waved the man away instantly, reaching for the touchscreen computer. I left him to his business and walked over to an empty computer station, reading the screen. All these bars had risen to the top of the small graph, and weren't lowering.

Making a note of the funny symbols and numbers, I jogged back down the stairs. A smile touched my lips when I wondered if the other computer technicians were wondering what I was doing.

Dr. Selvig was still bent over, poking at the Tesseract with a frown on his face when I arrived. I repeated the information back to him and the frown set deeper.

"I'm no expert in thermonuclear astrophysics, sir," I asked curiously, looking at the floating wisps of energy. "But...what's the problem?"

"She's misbehaving, the Tesseract," Selvig muttered. "I don't like it. First off, it's not supposed to be _on_."

"What is 'misbehaving?'" I shuffled forward to get a better look at what Selvig was doing. He was attempting to poke the Tesseract again, but suddenly, a small blue force field formed around it, and blue sparks flew from the contact.

"Er...that's misbehaving?"

Selvig stood upright. "These levels aren't looking good. "Srini!" he barked. A young Indian man jogged over to the platform, adjusting his classes. "I want you to contact Director Fury. There's something wrong with the Tesseract." Srini nodded quickly and sprinted in the direction he came.

"Sir, these readings-!" I looked away from the Tesseract and noticed computer stations and monitors set up behind the Tesseract. An older woman with blond hair and glasses was frantically typing at a computer. "They're off the charts! It shouldn't be releasing that much gamma radiation!"

The other scientists in the room were becoming aware of the situation in the room. Each person began typing frantically on their touchscreen computers. The guards in the room looked a little unsettled, and some of them craned for a closer look at the screen. I turned my attention to the Tesseract. The blue glow it emitted grew stronger, and I watched with amazement as a few wisps of energy suddenly escaped from the box and began to float towards the ceiling.

"Um...sir?" I called anxiously. _If that cube is pure energy..._I thought back to my readings. _Does that mean it just released pure energy?_

I glanced over at Dr. Selvig, not sure what to make of it, and his face had a mixture of confusion, surprise, and fear.

"Elena, we need to order an evacuation. Now."

* * *

Only a few times during my tenure at S.H.I.E.L.D. had I experienced an evacuation. The past few times it had been over something minor, for example, a small fire. An evacuation was ordered because S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps so many weapons stored, and one of them could have gone off.

This one, however, was bigger and more alarming than I had expected. In all of the confusion, I found myself working with Sullivan, and with a new title: Data Modeler for Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.

After Selvig contacted Director Fury and explained the situation, I found myself assigned to the task of creating models of data flow of the Tesseract's energy output.

Like I said, I don't understand astrophysics. But I could tell for the most part that the Tesseract wasn't supposed to be giving off so much energy. In the midst of the evacuation, I sat with Kat as we compiled data readings into charts, which were transferred to touchscreen computers and given to heads of divisions in S.H.I.E.L.D. One of the first things done was the evacuation of weapons. I kept hearing the word "Phase 2" being yelled around the command center, but I didn't have time to figure out what it was.

Kat looked a little over-excited during this as she read off numbers to me every minute. Her blue eyes had lost their fatigue were as excited as the day I first met her.

"This looks dangerous!" she gasped, her eyes widening at the screen. "That's a lot of energy, Miss Elle."

"You're telling me," I said, shaking my head nervously. My eyes darted to the video feed of the Tesseract on the large monitor. "It's gamma radiation, which makes it worse."

"I thought you said you weren't an astrophysicist," Kat accused me.

"I'm not."

"Pedagia, I need an update, these touchscreen computers are acting funny!" Sullivan's voice said in my ear.

"Still at 1.5 gray, sir," I responded, looking at the chart. "It hadn't moved since."

"It'd better not," Sullivan muttered hastily.

"What are 'gray', Miss Elle?" Kat asked me curiously. I exhaled nervously, looking around the frantic command center.

"Gray are...units of measurement in radiation. And Dr. Selvig said that exposure to 5 or more gray of high-energy radiation leads to death in 14 days. He says it's low levels of gamma radiation but I don't want to be near any kind of radiation except for x-rays," I added anxiously, tapping my fingers on the table. The blue wisps of energy inside the Tesseract were moving faster now. What does it mean?

"Pedagia," Sullivan's voice said again, but he was behind me this time. "There's something I need you to do. I don't trust _anyone _to deal with this shit, but everyone else seems to be content scrambling the National Guard."

I turned in my chair, tripping over my words, "What do you need me to do?" I stood up quickly.

"Gena, you take over. And _don't _screw up," he added, pointing at her.

"I won't, sir, I promise you. When we're all done here, I'm gonna bring ya'll some peach cobbler to celebrate." Kat saluted us energetically and turned to the computer.

"Don't understand how that girl's always happy," he muttered. "Out of the way!" Sullivan shoved a young white coat as he marched down the downstairs. I followed him quickly, managing not to trip over my feet and shooting the white coat an apologetic look.

Downstairs, other white coats were busy packing up important materials into big white containers. Some were going through checklists ten times over.

"You have experience in network management," he assumed, striding quickly past the lab.

"Yes," I panted, running to keep up with him.

"There's some damn important data from the mainframe that you need to get out of there with this." He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket. I took it from his outstretched him and opened it. Inside was a small, silver disk, about the size of an earring.

"A disk?"

"It'll write all the information about S.H.I.E.L.D. onto this disk. This information has to be kept safe."

_Shit. _I lose things before I even know I had it. "Sir, why are you entrusting me with this, I know I don't have the classification level-"

"You have it now!" Sullivan exclaimed, stopping in his tracks to turn on me. "Since Selvig decided to include you in this, you may as well bypass all the other rules, too."

I felt a mixture of confusion and embarrassment as he continued walking past the lab towards a locked door in the corner. "What do you mean?"

"Selvig appointed you liasion between the command center and lab. He has no goddamn _power, _but since he's the scientist of the decade anything says goes," he added bitterly. "And you don't talk, you're awkward, but you're smart, so you'd had better not screw up or S.H.I.E.L.D. will have your head."

_No pressure. _

Sullivan unlocked the door with a swipe of his card and it slid open. Sighing angrily, he dragged me inside.

Stepping between the room and the laboratory area was more or less like stepping into a dream. Inside, the room was dark, illuminated by a green screen that nearly reached the wall. Attached to it was a large keyboard, with main control panels on either side of it.

The nerd inside of me was stunned to see what appeared to be the largest computer I had ever laid eyes on since my days at MIT.


	8. some things are best kept secret

**updating like crazy today, you're welcome. XD**

* * *

"That is our super computer, or...whatever," Sullivan said, his temper apparently gone. "There is a crapton of _shit _in there that, in the wrong hands, could bring S.H.I.E.L.D. down. With that being said..." he took the box from my hands and held up the disk with his fingertips. "You need to copy ever single bit of data from that hard drive onto this disk, and bring it to me as soon as you're finished, you understand? If this gets lost, we are finished. I'll be in the lab." He pressed the cool disk into the palm of my hand. Eyeing me, he exited the room and it slid shut behind me.

_Well, shit. _I exhaled, feeling a little nervous and excited. Mostly nervous. In this room, the noise outside seemed to be subdued.

I crouched down beneath the keyboard and felt for the superdrive that I knew was there. I placed the silver disk inside and listened as the computer came to life.

"Hard drive, hard drive..." I murmured, working my magic. "Come to me." With a simple stroke of a set of keys, the copying process had begun. I listened to the quiet whirring of the superdrive, almost feeling at peace, considering the situation.

The next thing I did is probably what set off the chain of events that followed.

I had intended to minimize the screen showing me the copying process. Instead, I accidentally hit a command that opened the files that were being transferred.

"Yikes!" I hissed, trying to frantically stop the files from popping up. "Slow down, dammit!" I glanced at the screen, trying to find the right command to stop the information from showing up.

Unexpectedly, the sound of a loud roar caused my hands to freeze in motion, and I watched with confusion as a video clip appeared on my screen of a green monster swinging from building to building, smashing windows. I frowned with confusion as the video screen zoomed in on its face. The green monster appeared to be a man? His muscles were larger than any human's, bright green eyes that sparkled with rage and hatred. As if he could see me, he bared his teeth and unleashed a mighty roar, and I stumbled backwards in shock. Other videos appeared of a man and woman. The man fired arrows with precision, and the woman, who had short red hair, fired two guns.

I leaned against the wall in confusion as videos of more people appeared. I tilted my head in confusion when a video of Tony Stark, better known as "Iron Man" zoomed into the camera. Other files popped up with detailed information about the people and their lives. On the heading of each file was "Avengers Initiative."

"Go away, go away," I whispered nervously, closing them out, realizing that I was looking at extremely classified information. Once that disappeared, I then had to deal with blueprints and photographs of what looked like an aircraft carrier. Detail information about the engines, database and fuel requirements spread across the screen. _What is this?_

Another set of files detailing the contraption containing the Tesseract didn't surprise me. The files that I had read on the Tesseract before appeared before me as well, but I dismissed it, closing them down.

"What does Stark Tower have to do with anything?" I whispered, looking at the detailed blueprints of Stark's latest technological invention. Blueprints of Stark's arc reactor appeared on the screen.

More files continued to appear on the screen and I felt my heart rate speed up in fear as information about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s deepest secrets literally laid itself out before me. There were things that I wasn't supposed to know about people. About my superiors. About the history of this organization. Frantically, I struggled to input the right command to close the windows.

Finally, I found it, and the screen became clear again, showing only the progress bar. I rubbed my eyes, feeling overwhelmed.

_Who are the Council? Why is Nick Fury's birth date listed in the 1920s? And what the hell is Avengers Initiative, who created it? What is Phase 2? What's so important about the arc reactor?_

The superdrive suddenly slowed. Before ejecting it, I locked the information on it with a passcode near and dear to me. After it came out, I hesitantly reached for the disc and held it up to my eye, staring at it. _You contain S.H.I.E.L.D.'s deepest secrets. _

I looked down at my collarbone and realized that I could keep the disk on my necklace. It was plain and silver, and it would blend perfectly. After I unhooked the necklace, I slid it through the circle of the disk and reattached it around my neck. The weight of the necklace suddenly felt heavier.

_Compose yourself, _I thought nervously, exiting the room. _Just act like everyone else. _


	9. loki, of asgard

Outside of the room, the majority of white coats had disappeared, taking with them their equipment. Following Sullivan's orders, I walked over to the lab's entrance.

"Sullivan?" I called, walking into the lab. Sullivan was standing with Dr. Selvig and the woman with the blond hair. In front of the Tesseract was Nick Fury and a man with a set of bow and arrows. He turned, temporarily, to look at Nick Fury, and a jolt went from my head to my toes when I recognized his profile.

_His face was in that file. The Avengers Initiative, _I thought. _Does he know?_

"Sullivan!" I called, walking towards him. Sullivan raised his head in acknowledgement, looking relieved. "I've found something that could..." I trailed off when I noticed that the Tesseract was glowing even brighter than before. To boot, the power suddenly surged, and the room shook. Fury and the man with him wobbled unsteadily, looking at the Tesseract. I regained my balance and took a step back.

My confusion grew when swirls of blue energy began to gather around the cube, and the room began to shake again. I grabbed onto a rusty pipe attached to the wall. _This can't be good. It shouldn't be doing that._

"Kat," I whispered, gripping onto the pipe. "Kat, do you read me?"

"Miss Elle, you have to get out of there, the building's about to collapse!" she panted, making it sound as if she was running. "You have to go, you have to go!"

While Kat was talking, the Tesseract suddenly emitted a beam of blue light that stopped at the small platform and began to expand in a circular motion, stretching upward and out. After a few seconds, the blue energy suddenly exploded and spread throughout the room. I quickly ducked into the room, avoiding the blast.

The rest of the blue energy ascended to the hole in the roof and began to gather there.

_That's amazing, _I thought, taking a step closer. _All that energy?_

I, like other people, crept closer towards the Tesseract only to see a dark figure kneeling on top of the platform. I settled myself near the closest exit, an open door. Guard with guns crept towards the figure slowly, ready to fire.

_Obviously, _I realized, watching as the figure raised its head. _It was in the notes. That thing is a portal. Why didn't anyone think that someone might activate it? _I gripped the edge of the doorway as the figure stood up.

It was a man. At least, it _looked _like a man. From where I stood, his skin was blue, small droplets of sweat adoring his face from the steam and smoke he radiated from his journey. His hair was raven-colored, completely dark at night and slicked back until it reached his shoulders. He wore some kind of leather trench-coat with green lapels and lined with gold. On his forearmswere some kind of armor decorated in green and gold. A black tunic with a strip of gold around the neckline completed the outfit. In his hand was a golden spear, with a curved metal tip, surrounding a small glowing blue ball that reminded me of the Tesseract.

_Must be an alien, _I thought to myself, shaking my hand. _Can't be human. _

"Sir!" Fury barked from the other end of the room. "Please put down the spear!" Fury didn't even looked fazed by our visitor's appearance. The man looked at the spear, as if realizing that he had just seen it for the first time, and then his face contorted with anger, and he jerked the spear forward, sending a beam of blue energy towards Fury that sent everyone sprawling.

I sank further into the shadow of the room, pressing myself against the inside wall as gunshots were fired. In all of 60 seconds, I'd heard at least 20 rounds of bullets, 10 grunts, and the sounds of explosions. He had basically shut down the entire defense force in a minute.

I leaned around the door and stared at the energy still growing at the roof. The man had someone's hand in a grip.

"You have heart," I heard him murmur, his voice smooth like velvet, murmured so low I barely heard. Gently, he placed the spear against the man's chest, and the man went rigid. I could see, from my hiding place, his eyes darken and then turn to a brilliant blue.

Two seconds later he holstered his gun. A terrifying smile graced the man's face as he went around from person to person, touching them with the tip of his spear, and their entire body went rigid, and then relaxed.They holstered their guns and then smiled at the man.

_Mind control. Where are you from? _

"Please don't," the man said gently, his back to me. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Fury's voice said quietly. He stood in front of the Tesseract contraption, carrying a silver case. The Tesseract was gone.

"Of course it does," the man spat. "I've come too far for anything else." As he stepped forward into light, I realized that his skin was pale and sickly. "I am Loki. Of Asgard," he added, his voice rising. He drew himself to his full height, which could have been between 6 or 7 feet. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose," he finished with a dangerous whisper. His long fingers curled around his spear, tightening as if he was prepared to strike.

_Asgard. Home of the Tesseract. Guarded by Odin until it was lost..._

This Asgardian...Loki, was putting the pieces together for me. An Asgardian come to take home what belongs to them. After centuries of watching their precious cube subjected to experimentation, they sent their scariest soldier to bring it back.

"Loki? Brother of Thor?" Selvig's voice rang out from nearby.

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury said calmly, raising a hand.

_I have to object, Director, _I thought, watching as a scowl overtook Loki's face. _You stole what's theirs. _

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki said simply.

I raised my eyes to look at the gathering energy, which had expanded since I last looked at it. Half of me wanted to see what Fury would do. I knew now one of his greatest secrets, and with that power, I wanted to see how he would take care of Loki. But the other half of me, the rational side, told me to heed Kat's words and escape.

* * *

"Miss Elle!" Kat's voice exclaimed shrilly as I finally made my way out of that maze of a complex. Dozens of choppers were lined up on the landing platform. Kat had been waiting for me?

Her blue eyes were filled with frightened tears as she carried a black crate onto a chopper, and then rushed over to me. "Are you okay? Did you escape alright?"

"I'm fine," I panted, my chest on fire. After escaping from the lab, I made the dangerous decision to go to my room and pack as much as I could: the important things. My comforter. My electronics. My clothes, my picture of Megan. "What's this?" I yelled over the spinning blades.

"We're packing up as much as we can but that chopper's set to take us straight to headquarters," she panted, shouldering a black backpack. "We can leave, now, the next one is leaving in 2 minutes!"

I looked over my shoulder at the entrance to the complex. Dr. Selvig was left alone with an Asgardian who wielded magic to control minds. What if something happened to him?

I'd barely known Dr. Selvig for more than 2 hours and I already felt like I had a duty to help him. But Kat tugged on my arm frantically, saying something.

"We have to go!" Kat's eyes were pleading for me to just _come on_.

I had never trusted Nick Fury before but as Kat pulled me onto the last civilian helicopter to leave Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., I hoped more than ever that he would save one of the world's most brilliant scientists before it was too late.


	10. interrogation

**long chapter. enjoy!**

* * *

The ride back to headquarters took nearly 4 hours. By 7:30, we had landed in New York. I, like others, was stunned in silence over the events that had occurred within the past 12 hours. I hadn't slept in 24. During the ride, I struggled to keep my eyelids open.

While the spinning blades of the helicopter came to a halt, I reached across the aisle of space and shook Kat gently awake, telling her that we had arrived. She opened her eyes and looked at me in a daze.

I smiled weakly at her. "Home sweet home."

As we were escorted off the helicopter, we were greeted by at least 5 guards and a few white coats who urged us inside of the building. I shivered against the brutal morning cold and scurried inside, desperate for warmth. Within minutes of entering, our backpacks were confiscated and we were escorted to the infirmary on the third floor, to be tested for major gamma radiation. Nervous prickles traveled down my skin when I wondered if my picture of Megan would be destroyed because it was exposed to gamma radiation.

For the most part, we were all exposed to little to no gamma radiation. I, on the other hand, received a stronger blast than most because of the Tesseract. Obviously, I chose not to tell them why. The doctors stripped me of my suit, disposed it, and scrubbed my pale skin until it was red and raw. The specialist on call surmised that I had been exposed to 1 to 1.5 Gray of radiation, which might cause a headache, fatigue and stomach pains, but wouldn't kill me.

"Can I just have my backpack back?" I said wearily as the specialist filled out a prescription in front of me. Just being in the infirmary is irritating. I don't like hospitals. They smelled clean, too clean, of medicine, and radiated sickness. Waiting for his response, I scratched my back, the gown material completely intolerable.

"I don't know where that is, Pedagia," he sighed with boredom. I felt uncomfortable sitting on the cold steel table in the hospital room. "But here. Take this, get it filled out, it'll help with the sickness." He placed it in my hand, pocketing a small book.

"What do I do now?"

The doctor shrugged. "I expect you'll be thoroughly debriefed." With a curt nod, he exited the room, moving onto another patient.

I had figured we were going to be debriefed once we arrived, but I still hadn't figured out a plan of attack. Withholding the assignment Sullivan gave me or the information I'd learned could keep me from being implicated in anything. I knew they would want to know everything.

Did I have an alibi?

_Shit. _

I chewed on my nails worryingly. _If they question any of the white coats about my whereabouts, they'll say I was with Sullivan heading towards the super computer. But what if they don't question the white coats? This entire group of people is full of computer technicians anyway. They were all upstairs. _

I wasn't entirely sure if it was the gamma radiation or the nerves, but I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Ms. Pedagia," a woman's voice crooned from nearby. In a flash, I sat up, swallowing the nausea. Standing in the doorway was Helen, one of my many superiors in the command center in New York. She was a shell of a human, all skin and bones, a fact she prided herself on. The plum pantsuit she wore hung off her body like a man's jacket would a child.

"You poor thing," she crooned again, opening her stick thin arms as she walked towards me, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. "Are you okay?"

I blinked, and on a beat, said, "Are _you _okay? You never show emotion."

Just like that, the fake sympathy disappeared and was replaced with her usual stoic face, and her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Good point. What happened to you? One too many x-rays?" She adjusted her glasses, which had slipped down her pointy nose again.

I exhaled. "Sure, Helen."

"Imagine mysurprise when _you_ get sent off to P.E.G.A.S.U.S..." she murmured, shaking her shiny hair that cost her a "fortune to have dyed the color of chocolate."

I lowered my head, looking at my raw knees. "I didn't ask to go."

"As much as I insult you, Pedagia, I do admit that it is good to have you safely here."

That was a sentence I never expected to hear from her mouth. "What happened to P.E.G.A.S.U.S.?" I asked, raising my head to look her in the eye. "Did everyone escape alive?"

Helen's normally sharp face suddenly became soft and her eyes filled with sorrow. "No, Pedagia. The complex imploded on itself from the Tesseract's energy." She cleared her throat gently. "There's nothing but a crater full of blood, bones and steel."

That piece of information, like most things nowadays, didn't surprise me, but it still hurt the same to learn that the complex was gone and that all the research had disappeared. More than ever, I was glad that I wore the silver disk around my neck. I couldn't help but wonder what the S.H.I.E.L.D. supercomputer was doing in a temporary base, considering that it wasn't official headquarters.

"Do you know what happened to Dr. Selvig?" I tried, searching her face. "The astrophysicist who worked on the project?"

"He disappeared," Helen said frankly, returning to her usual self. "Fury returned only half an hour after you did. The man doesn't show emotion other than hate and disappointment, but he actually showed sadness in that one eye of his. Selvig and Fury's associate disappeared."

_You had the chance to save them both and you failed? What the hell happened? _

"You look like you want to stab me, Pedagia," Helen noted, raising her thin eyebrows.

I lowered my eyes immediately. "I'm just very tired, Helen, and I'd like to go home and rest," I admitted. That, and I wanted to phone Katie as soon as possible. I had a slight realization on the flight to New York: if I'd died in that complex, my family would have never known. Currently, they assumed I had disappeared.

I began to make plans to visit Katie and my parents and explain everything. It might be difficult to get Katie to stay quiet, but I'm sure my parents could. Then maybe they could understand. At least know where I am so that if I died, they would be able to take me home.

"You can't go home," Helen said obviously, crossing her arms. "You need to be debriefed and you're going straight to command. Fury has issued an order for every available agent to look for the Tesseract."

"I'm not an agent."

"Don't play games with me, Pedagia," Helen warned me, pointing one long, manicured finger in my direction. "From now on, you're _all _agents. From here until the end of time, if need be, your immediate objective is to locate the Tesseract. As we speak the computer system is being updated with new tracking software and S.H.I.E.L.D. bases all over the globe are putting in all their resources to find the Tesseract. This is a big deal. It has energy to destroy the planet, and it slipped through our fingers."

Helen vividly painted a picture for me of what occurred last night. The Asgardian took Selvig and the archer through mind control, and then _somehow _managed to subdue Fury and escaped with the Tesseract. At the last moment, the complex exploded.

"But what's done and done and all we can do is move on. So sit tight and wait until someone comes to get you for debriefing, and then report straight to command. Understood?"

I nodded reluctantly and Helen turned on her heel to strut down the hallway. My plans had been rearranged without my knowing.

* * *

A new suit had been given to me and I wasn't really happy about it. I rubbed the spandex material against my forearm, wishing I could scratch an itch on my arm, but it was impossible through the fabric. I glanced up at the mirror on the wall of the interview room, knowing full well that someone was standing behind it, probably watching me to see how I was reacting to being questioned. With a yawn, I closed my eyes and rested my head in my hand.

The rapid pounding of my heartbeat alarmed me and I inhaled deeply to calm down.

After a few precious seconds of sleep, the door opened and when I raised my eyes, I met the eyes of Maria Hill.

Her face was very calm as she closed the door and then slid in the chair across from me. I noticed the cuts and bruises on his face. Maria was Fury's second hand, so it figured that she was there. I felt a wave of relief rush through me to see her. At least it wasn't someone entirely intimidating.

Still quiet, Maria set up a gray touchscreen computer and began opening files. Then she exhaled and leaned back in her chair.

"Hi."

"Hello," I said quietly, looking at her defeated expression. "Um...are you alright? You look really banged up."

"I'm fine, it's nothing I can't handle," she responded, waving the matter away. "I've had worse. You look unscathed." I gave her a tight smile. "We'll make this quick, kay?" She smiled quickly at me as she opened another file. "Just give me a run down about where you were last night."

"After Selvig informed me that he needed to call an evacuation I spent the night in the command center. Sullivan informed me that Selvig wanted to see me so I went downstairs to the lab."

"And what did you see?" Maria murmured, her eyes not on me.

"The Tesseract exploded and then a man appeared. He seemed to have a spear that controlled minds," I explained, listening to my pounding heart beat. I kept my eyes on her face for any sign that she didn't believe me.

"What did you do after that?"

"I left the lab because I saw the energy gathering, and it was a lot. I went to my room, gathered as many personal items as I could, and then I went up to the landing pad."

"Okay." Maria nodded in approval. "What was the man's name? Did he say?"

"Um...something..." I looked up towards the ceiling. "Loki. Said he was from Asgard."

"Being that you read the research, I assume you know of Asgard." I nodded in affirmation. ' "Anything else you can tell us?" Maria sighed, focused on the screen.

"No, that's all...it all just happened so fast. One minute the Tesseract is just acting up and the next the entire thing explodes." Hill nodded in agreement. "Did Sullivan survive?"

"No," she said curtly. "We recovered as many bodies possible and his was one of them."

Inwardly, I sighed with relief. _If that's the case, then I'm safe. The system and doors are gone, which means that his I.D. card can't be traced to opening the room. _

"As you know, now our main priority is to locate the Tesseract," Maria explained, closing down the screen and pulling out a pad of paper. "Contrary to what your supervisor said, you are being recommended for two days bed rest in order to cope with the exposure to gamma radiation. During your bed rest, you are not expected to leave your house unless it's necessary. And necessary," she added, peering up at me under her eyelashes, "Is like...radiation sickness gets worse. Family, of course, is permitted. Obviously leave gamma radiation out of the equation."

_Family's permitted. I can have them come over and explain everything. _

"Elle," Maria said softly, her change of tone surprising me. "I know you've been through a lot these past three weeks." She set the pad down and leaned forward to look at me. "And it's been a lot to go through. But please try to keep these...under wraps. We don't need to alarm the American people...or the world about this. This moment in S.H.I.E.L.D. history is just..." she sighed, looking defeated again. "Really tough. We need you to come through for us. Please keep things quiet until we figure things out."

It was as if Maria knew my plans all along. Her green eyes disarmed me and I realized that I liked her...and wanted to make her proud of me, so I nodded firmly.

"Understood."


	11. missing out

A black Sedan arrived at headquarters to escort me home later that evening. My departure occurred late at night so my neighbors wouldn't think anything suspicious. It would seem odd to a normal person on the street that a house that was put up for sale should have someone walking into it.

The drive from headquarters to my house was very quiet, as I was escorted by two guards committed to silence. I leaned against the cold glass window of the back seat and stared at the groups of people walking down the street dressed to the nines, in their tight dresses and sharp suits. They carried glasses of liquor, swinging their bags back and forth and laughing without a care in the road. Further down the road, outside of the one of the more well-known nightclubs, I spotted a couple kissing, pressed against the brick road. Outside of the art gallery an older couple, a man and a woman, carried a large painting canvas with looks of excitement on their faces.

As the car continued to smoothly navigate Manhattan's streets, I felt a growing sense of melancholy watching people experience things that I never could. I never had the experience of being so intoxicated I can't even remember my own name, or experiencing feelings of attraction. As a quiet computer nerd, I spent my days at MIT in my dorm room, staring at a glowing screen for hours at a time. Against my will, I found myself working at S.H.I.E.L.D. doing the exact same thing, except for pay. In a way, I set myself up for this.

But it didn't lessen the heavy feeling in my heart.

* * *

Black sunglasses watched me carefully as I retrieved my backpack, which was deemed clean of major radiation, and shuffled my way up the creaky steps of my patio. Before entering I glanced up and down the street, hoping that no one was awake at this hour.

The familiar smells and sights of home put me at ease a little. My home was emptier than when I had left, as most of my clothes and other items were destroyed in the collapse.

Even though I only had two days bed rest, I appreciated being in my own home for once. I did feel a little sick the first night home but I downed a bottle of ginger ale like it was whiskey, hoping the feeling would soon past. I curled up in my mint green comforter and passed out the moment I hit the bed.

The next morning I was woken up by my phone ringing and I promptly ducked my head underneath my pillow, squeezing my eyes shut. _I wish I could turn the damn thing off but I never know who's going to call. 24 hour cell phone. _

Like usual, I nearly broke my alarm clock trying to find it, and then I pressed the screen to my ear.

"It's morning. Whoever you are, it'd better be important," I said through my teeth.

"Hi, Miss Elle!"

That shrill, excited voice caused my head to throb. "Hello, Kat. Do you know what time it is?"

"Seven a.m. sharp," she answered proudly. "Listen, can you open the door? I have some news!"

"Open the..." I trailed off, sitting up and hobbling to the window to see her standing on my deck, holding a touchscreen computer. "How did you find my house?" I blinked sleepily, trying to adjust my vision.

"Oh, you're so silly," she said with a giggle. "If I wanted to, I could find your social security number."

"That's alarming," I responded dryly, looking at my blue tank top and shorts, surmising that she wouldn't care about my attire.

When I opened the door for her she bounced inside like an eager kangaroo and hugged me tightly. "Are you feeling okay, Miss Elle? If you have food I can whip up some of my momma's soup. You'd _love _it, trust me," she added, sliding into my kitchen and setting a black bag and the computer on the kitchen counter.

"I'm feeling better, honestly," I responded, peeking outside to see if there were any curious observers. "Ginger ale helped. What news? Did they find the Tesseract?"

"Oh, no," she sighed sadly, running her hands through her hair. It was out of its usual bun today and fell to her shoulders. It always struck me with surprise to see my co-workers out of uniform. Kat was wearing a white sweatshirt, jeans, and scuffed black Converse.

"Georgia State?" I tried awkwardly, glancing at the red letters on the sweater as I walked to the fridge. "Um, do you want anything?"

"No, but thank ya kindly," Kat responded with a sad smile. "Georgia State's where I graduated from. I was on track to get my M.S. in computer science, but S.H.I.E.L.D. pulled me out."

"I'm sorry," I murmured, pouring myself another glass of ginger ale. "Was it a good school?"

"Oh, it was great. I'm surprised you didn't hear about me in the T.V. 'Child genius chooses Georgia State, all that stuff," she said, looking immensely proud of herself.

"I was probably too busy bent over a computer." I did the math in my head. "Wait...you're telling me that you graduated college at 14? Why are you a fresh recruit?"

Kat tilted her head. "Well, I graduated at 14 and I was in the middle of a masters program between Georgia State and MIT. So for four years I spent my time doing research, comin' up with my dissertation, final projects, things like that...everything was goin' real well until some guys in black showed up at my door and took me to New York. I guess someone got their hands on my research and thought I could be real useful."

"Oh."

"But enough about me, Miss Elle, the news!" She clapped her hands excitedly and set up the computer. "Something big is happening. Apparently Fury has decided to gather a response team to find the Tesseract."

I swallowed a large gulp of ginger ale. "Do you know what the team is going to do?" I managed, feeling the bubbles stick in my throat.

"No, but they're going to find the Tesseract. Word is Stark is in on it, too."

_So he's reactivating the Avengers Initiative, _I thought. _This might be good. Especially if they have Dr. Banner on his side, he's an expert in gamma radiation. _I relaxed a little, setting the glass down on the counter.

Last night my curiosity got the better of me, and I read through the files on the Avengers Initiative. I do remember hearing about Dr. Banner and his accident a while ago, because I was there. During that period of time, though, I was working on a computer in the basement and kept in the dark, so I actually wasn't there to witness his destruction of New York City. What surprised me the most is that I didn't _hear _it.

"Some agents went back to P.E.G.A.S.U.S. to salvage what was left of the complex and they didn't find a thing," Kat continued. "Lots of bodies, though."

"I've heard."

"But, even better news," my associate squealed, clapping her hands together enthusiastically. "We're being reassigned!"

_Again? _"To where?" I blurted out, sending my glass down. "Where now, haven't they realized that reassignments will get us killed?"

"Something called the Helicarrier. It's a big ship." Kat turned the computer screen around to show me pictures of the flying aircraft carrier I'd seen in the files. The screen showed a 3-D projection of the ship. "Fury is trying to get everyone who knows anything about the Tesseract on that ship. The response team might need some help."

"You didn't work on the Tesseract, though, and neither did I."

"Yeah..." she trailed off, playing with the strings of her hoodie. "But we read numbers. And you knew Dr. Selvig-"

"For all of two hours before he was kidnapped," I added sardonically, staring at the bottom of my cup.

"Is that what happened to him?" Kat asked worriedly. I raised my eyes over the glass to see that her blue eyes were wide with fright.

I sighed, feeling stupid. "I wasn't supposed to say that."

"What happened to him?" she repeated again, leaning forward. "Who kidnapped him? What happened down there, Miss Elle?"

"Kat, I'm not supposed to talk about it. It's...it's protocol," I lied, not meeting her expectant gaze.

"Miss Elle, now don't you lie to me," she demanded, pointing her index finger at me. "Before I worked at S.H.I.E.L.D. I read through all 1543 pages of information on S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol. Did someone specifically tell ya it was classified? No?"

Listening to her snap at me in her accent made me smile. "Are you sassing me, Kat?"

"I guess I am! Now it's not fair that we're all kept in the dark!"

"Are you throwing a tantrum, Kat?" I asked teasingly. "You can't expect things to always go your way."

"They always have," she muttered darkly, slouching in the chair she sat in. "I could have gone to any school I wanted without a worry."

"Well, this isn't college," I said frankly, pouring another cup in ginger ale in my glass. "All I'm saying is that he disappeared, and S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks someone took him. I'm not saying anything else on the subject, so don't ask me anymore."

Kat's face, which had fallen, suddenly became cheery again. "Well, alright. I hope they find Dr. Selvig, though! Such a shame. Oh, yeah! There's another piece of news."

"Is it good?" I asked dully.

"Not really," she said slowly, her eyes cautious now. "Remember that tracer you sent, and the email you got? Well, that email was fake. The guy doesn't exist."

"Well, that sucks," I said with a frown. "It was probably a prank." I was used to them; sometimes conspiracy theorists who believed that we killed John F. Kennedy sent us viruses in an attempt to shut us down. It usually took us 2 minutes to get rid of the virus.

"But here's the catch. Someone looked at that email again. And his name." She turned the touchscreen to face me and I stared at the email address on the screen, as well as the name beneath it. "Funny words, dontcha think?"

"I guess," I said in agreement, not sure where she was going with this. I watched as she rearranged words on the screen, and then turned it to face me. I looked at the information but it took me a while to absorb it.

"I...I don't understand," I finally said, not understanding what was in front of me. The name beneath the email addressed had changed.

"Miss Elle, look closer," Kat said with frustration, bringing the touchscreen towards me. "Alberik Gesilv. The last name rearranged spells 'Selvig.' Miss Elle, Dr. Selvig's middle name is Alberik. It's a clear message. Dr. Selvig sent that virus into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe."


	12. needed explanations

**in case anyone's wondering, loki shows up in the next chapter. exciting. **

* * *

_What?_

After that revelation, I swallowed a mouthful of ginger ale too quickly and began coughing to clear my windpipe. "W-why would one of the most brilliant scientists the world has ever seen send a virus into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database?" I wheezed, reaching for a paper towel. "It must be someone messing around. It happens all the time." I hastily wiped my chin.

"Who else knew that Dr. Selvig was on the project besides S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Kat responded skeptically, setting the computer gently on the counter. I searched my mind for an explanation.

"There are spies all over the world. Someone must have known, and sent up the fake email address to impersonate him," I reasoned. The concept that Selvig would do something like that didn't make sense.

"Wrong again," Kat said with a grimace, shaking her head. "Selvig's credit card bills report that he paid a fee to the anonymous email service one week ago. If someone had stolen Selvig's credit card, it would have been reported and taken care of in an instant, because S.H.I.E.L.D. gave it to him as compensation for working on Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. It had no limit, because Selvig needed to order parts for the device that held the Tesseract. No one else had access to it. S.H.I.E.L.D. trusted him entirely with it."

_I can't believe this. _"So, you're telling me that Dr. Selvig paid an anonymous email service for an email address that was somehow connected to the virus. Why the hell would you connect a virus to an email account?" I walked around the counter, thinking. Curiously, I peered outside the window over the sink and looked down the road. "It's as if the person _wanted _the virus to be found. They did it entirely on purpose. Is it to sabotage Selvig's reputation? Although, the virus barely did any damage."

Kat sighed loudly. "I don't know, Miss Elle. But it has S.H.I.E.L.D. scratching their heads."

"What plan of action has been taken? And how'd you find out that information?"

"I was released earlier than you and chose to go to command for a while and offered to do some...independent research." A innocent smile graced her face. "Snoopin', if you like. It just seems very fishy to me."

"I haven't known Dr. Selvig for very long, but I don't think he would purposely do that to S.H.I.E.L.D.," I murmured. "And that was some...quality, snooping." I grinned weakly at Kat and she smiled back, clearly proud of her work.

"We'll never know until he's found, I 'spose. But onto another subject. After the two days are up, we'll spend a day in command and then get escorted to the Helicarrier. I don't know what we'll be doing, though. I guess we'll find out later. I don't really like not knowin', though."

We continued chatting for a little while longer. Around 6 p.m., Kat took her leave and I was left to my own thoughts. Later in the evening I sat in my kitchen again with my computer, scrolling through the files Kat had left me. I took a sip of hot green tea, feeling nearly 100% recovered from the gamma exposure.

"It sure cost a lot for that email," I noted quietly, looking at the $500 fee listed on Selvig's credit card bill. In reality, it wasn't _that _expensive, considering how much he was getting paid. But I come from a middle-class family, so even with my salary, I'll always think of $500 as a lot of money.

The entire thing still didn't make sense. Dr. Selvig paid a hefty fee for an anonymous email address, attached a harmless virus to it, and sent it somehow into the S.H.I.E.L.D. mainframe. I figured he was an expert in computer science as well, but accessing the S.H.I.E.L.D. mainframe requires some expertise. I even have trouble with it.

Regardless of Kat's proof, I still firmly believed that it was a set up. I closed my laptop and went upstairs to my room to sleep, feeling uneasy.

* * *

The final day of bed rest passed quickly and without seeing Katie or the family. No one called me, asking where I was-I assumed they had given up. When I went into headquarters the next day, I felt out of it, completely physically and mentally exhausted from the emotional stress. The Tesseract, Dr. Selvig, and Agent Barton were still nowhere to be found. My family assumed that I had disappeared and I never got the chance to explain. The guilt continued to grow, and by the time I had settled into my station, I felt entirely uneasy and a little nauseous from worry.

The new tracing software was fairly easy to grasp and within minutes I was staring at video feeds from every major city on the globe. I had access to satellites hovering the Earth, and face recognition software scanning for Selvig, Barton, or the Asgardian. In addition to that, I was constantly running scans across the database for any new information.

The command center was a buzz as usual, with new reports coming in from other S.H.I.E.L.D. bases. For a moment I was distracted by watching rickshaws being carried through Cambodia.

_Carrying on with their lives, unaware of the dangerous situation, _I mused, looking at a family of 6 shuffling down a dirt path. Blissfully unaware. For once, I'd like to do that. Be unaware of danger, I mean.

"Pedagia?" a male voice asked in my ear, sounding strictly business.

"Yes?" I mumbled, sitting upright.

"We need you downstairs to help monitor the processors for the system. We think there's a problem and we're not too sure what's going on."

"Can you contact-" I stopped short when I realized that Sullivan was dead. "Sorry, yes...I'm on my way." I stood up, searching for Kat, and she was bent over a man's shoulder, looking at a screen.

"Um...hey," I said awkwardly, approaching them. "I have to go downstairs and monitor the processors. I'll be back in a bit."

"Sure thing, Miss Elle," Kat said absently, nodding her head. I stood there for a few more moments, glancing at the two of them, and then I shuffled out of the command center, grabbing a tablet on the way out.


	13. in the hands of mischief

**OH HEY LOKI**

* * *

The elevator ride down to the basement was a long one, and it descended so quickly that my stomach dropped. I carried a touchscreen tablet with me and looked at the schematics of the database. Nothing seemed out of order, but then again updates come every 10 minutes or so. The elevator came to a sudden stop at the bottom and the steel doors slid open. I stepped out into the building's boiler room and looked at the large black pipes that controlled the heating and electricity. The boiler room wasn't well lit and I jumped when one of the pipes blew steam. The control panels were located further back, past the pipes and electricity. As a computer expert, I don't approve of the two rooms being relatively close to each other, because computers overheat so quickly and could easily shut down on itself.

The room was a little bit stuffy and I unzipped a little of my jacket to cool down. I tapped my earpiece. "This is Pedagia, I'm walking through the boiler room. What seems to be the problem? The database is working normally." I waited for a response but nothing came. "Hello?"

_Idiot, _I thought rudely. _It was such a trip down here. _Regardless, I walked past the boilers and approached the door leading to the computer panels. I dug around in my pockets for my I.D. and swiped it through the black card reader, but the light flashed red. I tried again, but the doors didn't open.

"Listen, if you really want my help, someone should kinda hurry up," I tried again, speaking into the microphone. "I don't have authorized access." I waited a few seconds and then turned on my heel, frustrated.

_I get that we're all discombobulated, but come on. _I tapped on the touchscreen, sending Kat a message that all was clear and I was on my way back upstairs. In the middle of walking, I tripped over something soft and looked over my shoulder, already irritated. Lying on the floor was a slumped body, or at least half of it; the rest of the body was hidden beneath a water-cooled chiller.

My heart thudded heavily in my chest as I stepped back from the corpse with horror. A tingle of anticipation flew through my nerves and I knew that something was about to happen.

"Oh, shit," I whispered, my voice trembling. As quiet as can be, I walked around the chiller and crouched down to get a look at the man. Cold dread filled my heart when I saw a single bullet shot in the middle of his forehead, oozing a thin line of blood that had already seeped onto the floor.

Which meant the killer was somewhere in this room. My hands felt slick with nervous sweat and I typed another message out to Kat, my shaky fingers sliding across the screen.

"Don't do that, Pedagia."

My fingers froze and my eyebrows came together in confusion because the voice was familiar to me. Unable to resist, I raised my head and peeked over the water chiller. Sitting on the evaporator was Sullivan, his arms crossed and a harsh glare on his face. My racing heart skipped a beat, unable to decide if I was calming down in his presence or becoming alarmed.

Slowly, I stood up, keeping my hands on the touchscreen. His eyes followed my form as I straightened up.

"What happened to him?" I breathed shakily, trying to process the new information presented before me. Thoughts wildly raced through my mind: How did he get here? How is he alive? How did he get in if he's listed as a dead agent?

"I don't know." He stood upright and shifted a little in the light. His face looked sallow and since I'd last seen him, he'd developed light scruff on his face. He still wore his uniform, although it looked dirty and worn.

"How'd you survive?" I inquired to distract him, shifting my body in response. I tilted the screen of the tablet up a centimeter. If I could slide my hand over to the green "send" button, all was well. Kat would send guards down here, capture Sullivan, and maybe end the entire conflict by the end of the day.

"I caught the last helicopter out," Sullivan said simply. "I left with Directory Fury."

"Lucky break," I said weakly, tilting up the screen some more. But even I knew that Fury's helicopter was strictly reserved for guards, himself, Agent Coulson and Agent Hill.

"A real lucky break. Listen, did you do what I asked you to? About the disk?" he said quickly, changing the subject.

"I..." I trailed off, wondering if a lie would prove best in the situation. The words tripped out of my tongue. "Yes," I said hesitantly.

"I need it."

"What for? Something secret for Fury?" I inquired casually, finally getting my hands to the green button of salvation. I tapped it twice, not lowering my eyes. My heart rate picked up again. I hoped the message did send, or else I would be stuck in this room with a murderer.

"Something like that," Sullivan replied with a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

I exhaled quietly, hoping that someone was watching this on camera. "First," I said slowly, watching his reaction, "I need to have this guy taken to the infirmary." I began to crouch down, keeping my eyes on him.

"Don't do that!" he snapped, raising his voice. "I'll take care of it." His eyes widened exponentially and noticed for the first time that his eyes were a brilliant shade of blue in the light. It was the same color as the Tesseract, the same color as Loki's spear, and the same color of the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Loki put under his control. Every single one of my senses heightened, aware that the Asgardian might be lurking in the boiler room right now. The sound of pipes bursting steam seemed louder than usual at that moment.

"Have your eyes always been that color? Or has Loki gotten to you first?" I said with a light tremble in my voice as I stood upright.

Sullivan smiled at me then, his face glowing with admiration. "My Lord's burdened with glorious purpose and I exist to help him fulfill it." He tilted his head towards the ceiling with a sigh and with shaking fingers, I reached for my sidearm. "He has shown me such marvelous things," he murmured in astonishment. "The Tesseract is full of knowledge you could never imagine."

Sullivan was obviously a threat to me now. As he continued to speak about the Tesseract, I pulled out my gun and aimed it for his chest, clutching the touchscreen to mine. My hands continued to shake violently as I squeezed one eye shut, trying to remember the basic gun lessons I'd been given. Fear prickled at the nape of my neck when I imagined what would happen if I missed.

_Of all times to fail, don't let it be now, _I thought wildly as Sullivan lowered his head to look at me.

"Oh, Elliot," he whispered sadly, looking me dead in the eye. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, steadying my hands as best as possible.

Sullivan fixed me with a sad smile before I fired. I forgot how heavy the gun was and I felt the recoil as the bullet flew from the barrel of the gun. He jerked backwards, the bullet settling in his chest above his heart, and sagged against the evaporator, a ghost smile still on his face as a trickle of blood dripped onto the floor.

* * *

"Katherine!" I yelled in my earpiece, absorbing what I'd just done. No response. "KATHERINE! DO YOU COPY?" I cried again, feeling uneasy again, glancing at Sullivan's body.

My right arm throbbed from the recoil after I threw my earpiece to the ground, cursing the thing for being broken. The best thing I could do was glare at it for existing. At the same moment, a tall, dark shadow spilled into the ground like liquid.

My heart slammed hard against my ribcage, and I backed away so quickly from the shadow that I hit my lower back on a smooth, hard pipe. I ignored the feeling of pain that shot up my spine as my eyes searched for the body belonging to the shadow.

My hand flew to my throat to smother the scream that would have tumbled from my lips, and I stared with widened eyes at the figure standing no more than 4 meters away behind another evaporator, virescent eyes glaring at me in the dark. The touchscreen in my arms slipped and fell onto the ground with a loud smash. The screen flickered and then died, turning black.

Every thought I had in my mind suddenly flickered and died as well. I stood against the pipe for nearly 5 minutes, pinned to the spot by a gaze so fierce I could do nothing but stare. My eyes refused to close, or even blink.

"You've killed one of my best agents, Elliot," he said in a rasping voice, soft and deadly. Goosebumps rose on my arms in response.

"I don't like that all," he added in that same, soft voice. I swallowed that same lump in my throat and faced the Asgardian who had thrown S.H.I.E.L.D. into chaos, had killed without mercy, and had taken one of the world's most brilliant astrophysicists under mind control. Loki emerged from behind the evaporator, his hands curled around his golden staff, bent like a cat ready to pounce. And I was his target. I wasn't sure if he was intent on killing me. In fact, I wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Four meager hours of gun training came to mind and I began to take slow steps backward, keeping my eyes locked on Loki's, although he wouldn't allow me to look away, anyway.

Hours of time seemed to stretch as we played a game of advance and retreat. The sounds of bursting pipes alarmed me, but I didn't jump or move my eyes from the Asgardian approaching me.

"Look at you, you brave child," he whispered in awe, widening his eyes for a moment. "And you haven't even lowered the gun." I tightened my jaw in response. "What, aren't you going to shoot?" he asked gently, standing upright and opening his arms in invitation.

"Guns don't affect you. You're a demi-god," I murmured then, still keeping my sidearm raised. "I'll only get myself killed."

Loki chuckled quietly, fixing glittering emerald eyes on the barrel of the gun, and then to me. "Does keeping the gun raised give you some sense of safety? Of protection?" he inquired, taking a step closer. "That maybe, just _maybe..._you stand a chance against me?"

I had never met this Asgardian in my life, but I had picked up on two things.

He was extremely tall. As he came out of his crouch, I realized that he completely towered over me, giving him a large advantage.

He was cunning. His words were an attempt to manipulate me, to confuse me. To blatantly emphasize that he was indestructible, and that I should surrender now and drop the gun.

When I first arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. I learned basic gun and fighting techniques. At the moment I cursed S.H.I.E.L.D. for only giving me four hours worth. Shouldn't we have all gotten full, extensive training?

I was trying to remember fighting tactics. The only one I could remember was to watch the eyes. Luckily for me, Loki was no ex-Veteran. His emerald eyes were very expressive. I could see right now that he didn't intend to strike...yet. All I saw was amusement, and I knew why. An Asgardian against a 5'4" human. Who was the victor in this? The answer was obvious.

"You..._Elliot_," he whispered, using my full name again with pleasure. "Have something that I need."

That set off warning bells in my head, and an unpleasant tingle spread throughout my scalp. Summoning my courage, I narrowed my eyes.

"I don't have it," I said, attempting to sound cold and formal, but I failed when my words ended on a tremor. I was grateful that I hadn't entirely unzipped my jacket, or else I would reveal the crucial piece of information I always carried on me. I continued to step backwards, hoping I wouldn't trip over my feet.

"Oh, but you do." He smiled patiently, flashing a row of perfectly white, straight teeth. "For this to succeed, I need that disk."

"Then you'll have to take a few agents through mind control to get it," I replied with a grim smile. "Because it's in their hands, now."

_One of the fattest lies I've ever told. _

"Or is it in yours?" he asked suggestively. I licked my lips quickly and tightened my hands on the butt of the gun in response to his words. An elated look came into his eyes. "_Ah, _there it is."

In the span of time it took me to blink, Loki had thrown himself towards me and a powerful hand grasped my jaw so tightly I thought it was going to break. I grasped onto his slim wrist frantically to pull my face free as he pushed me backwards, and then I felt the curve of another pipe press against my back, and then my right hand was empty, my sidearm clattering uselessly on the ground. A groan of pain slipped through my lips as my spine curved unnaturally against the pipe. I tried to look everywhere but his face, but he turned my head sharply to face him.

"Tell me where the disk is, mortal, or I will crush your jaw," he snarled through his teeth, his emerald eyes boring into mine. He tightened his grip on my jaw for emphasis and I winced, closing my eyes to withstand the pain. My throat convulsed. This wasn't happening!

_These kinds of things happen in storybooks, _I thought with disbelief, squeezing my eyes quickly, hoping it was a crappy dream. When I opened them he was still there, refusing to let me look away while he searched my answers for an indication to the answer to his problem.

The only other sounds in the room were my panicked breathing while Loki waited for an answer. For all it was worth, I kept quiet, only grimacing when my jaw ached. His cold breath tickled my face as his face came dangerously close to mine. "Don't defy me, mortal."

I sucked in a deep breath and his eyes suddenly dropped, and a look of childlike wonder filled his face. "Oh..." he breathed. "_Oh_."

_Shit, _I thought with horror, watching his one free hand reach for my jacket. Every curse possible filled my mind over and over again as the single zipper began a slow descent from my neck to my navel to reveal the black tank top I wore, and the disk. One cool hand pressed against my collarbone to spread the lapels apart. I shivered in fear, and from cold hands resting above my chest.

"Oh, that is clever," Loki admitted with a pleased laugh. "Never leaving your side."

The blaring of an alarm startled him and he looked up.

For me, it was the sound of safety, and it gave me a needed surge of adrenaline. I mustered as much strength as possible to budge his wrist, but he lowered his head quickly, tightening his grip, flaring his nostrils in anger at my attempts to break free.

"I'll take this," he snarled, grasping the chain, prepared to pull.

"Good luck accessing the information," I wheezed. "It's locked."

"I have plenty of technicians on my side already," Loki murmured, a grin of victory curling on his lips.

"Only _I _know it," I clarified angrily, watching his face for his reaction.

_I would rather submit myself as a prisoner than allow you to walk away with that disk, _I thought furiously, listening to my hammering heart, waiting for his reaction. Understanding filled his eyes and he stepped back, releasing me without warning. I stretched my jaw, which throbbed painfully.

"Then I will have your mind," he said simply, and the blue ball of energy began to glow, and I shifted away from him, adrenaline rushing through my veins again, prepared to run for my life. "Dr. Selvig has told me the feeling is very peaceful. If I were to tell you a concept that is so plain, so easy, wouldn't you want it as well?" Loki laughed breathlessly.

Three things I'd learned from Loki, and the third was that he was completely and utterly twisted.

"Unless you beg me to spare you," the God suggested, twirling his staff in his hand. He spread his arms in invitation again. "To that, I will."

"I'm prouder than that," I wheezed, grasping the pipe behind me to keep my shaking knees from buckling.

Loki narrowed his eyes, and drew back the spear, baring his teeth at me. "Then you will, _kneel_," he hissed, the swirling blue orb glowing in the darkness of the room.

"PUT DOWN THE SPEAR!"

_Fury, _I realized as relief flooded through my veins, seeing a black mass hurtling towards us.

At the sound, Loki turned his head to face the group of ten or so guards who had arrived with guns. He drew the spear back with a snarl and sent two beams of energy towards the guards, scattering them all over the boiler room. He finished off the other guards easily and with a grunt, aimed a third energy beam towards one of the pipes, which exploded.

In the midst of all this I was retreating away from him, spotting a door nearby that might have been the cleaning closet. If anything, I could lock myself away and refuse to come out.

_Stupid, _a small voice whispered in my head. _You should be fighting, too. _My sidearm was no more than two feet away from my feet. But the premise of safety was greater than the risk of fighting, so I continued to back away, groping wildly behind me for the doorknob.

Bringing up the rear was Directory Fury, armed with something that resembled a bazooka, adjusting it on his shoulder to fire. For a quick second, his eye darted to look at me, backing away from the scene, and I temporarily froze in my retreat when I saw how displeased he was.

"Not today, Director," Loki said with a cheeky smile. Before my eyes, Loki disappeared in front of me, and in a matter of seconds, was at my side. I winced in pain when he grasped my arm with enough force to break it.

The displeased look in his eye gave way to confusion and disbelief, and I couldn't understand why. When the scene before me began to melt away, I realized why.


	14. coercion

As a child, I'd been incredibly skeptical of magic. Many times my parents offered to take me to magic shows or offered to hire a magician for one of my birthday parties, but I refused, believing that magic didn't exist and it was simply full of trick steps and holes. As long as I can remember, I believed in concrete evidence, facts, and science to prove that events did or didn't occur.

When I found myself standing in what appeared to be a small auditorium, I wondered if maybe I had been wrong all along.

Around me were metal tables, upon which was a silver briefcase. Cables hung from the ceiling and brick pillars were scattered across the room. I stood there for a few more moments, unable to believe that a few minutes ago I stood in the boiler room of S.H.I.E.L.D. in New York City.

My eyes looked again at the silver briefcase, and an image of Directory Fury holding it came to mind. I stepped forward towards the case, wondering if the Tesseract was still inside. Halfway through the motion, a tightening sensation on my forearm reminded me of who I was with.

Out of the corner of my eye, Loki stood still, his arm still wrapped around my wrist. I studied his profile for a moment, and then I began to notice that my wrist was becoming numb. I gripped his armor and attempted to pull myself away. At that, he turned to face me and bent his head towards mine, his green eyes narrowing into slits.

"I can't feel it," I whispered weakly. "Let go, please."

"My lord?" a confused voice asked from behind me. Rolling his eyes with irritation, Loki turned to face the visitor, who was Dr. Selvig.

"Doctor," I mouthed with surprise. He stepped into the room, holding a tablet between his hands. The plaid shirt he had been wearing when I lasted saw him was dirty with stains, his pants brushed with dirt. Like Sullivan, he developed light scruff on his face. "I have news!" he added excitedly.

As if he'd forgotten about me, Loki released my arm without a moment's hesitation and strode towards Dr. Selvig, tossing the spear in his hand like it was a toy. I stepped backwards from them, pulling the sleeve of my suit up to see five individual bruises turning purple on my arm. Quivering, I lightly traced my new marks, incredulous. Force enough to bruise? I cradled in my wrist in my free hand. I attempted to rotate it, and was rewarded with a sharp throb of pain shooting through my forearm. I hoped that it wasn't broken, or sprained. There was no way I'd be able to use a computer for weeks.

In front of me, Loki and Dr. Selvig spoke like old friends, discussing their plans. Selvig attempted to explain to Loki, in simple terms, what he had discovered from his experiments on the Tesseract. I took a few careful steps backwards until my back hit a damp, cold wall. I groped behind me and discovered I'd rammed into a pillar.

"What have you done to him?" I finally said, holding on the pillar for life.

Both Loki and Selvig raised their heads, clearly not wanting my input. However, Dr. Selvig's Tesseract blue eyes lightened with recognition and I smiled briefly at him, wondering if the man I knew for only a few days was back.

"Pedagia! Welcome! I wasn't aware you were coming to join us!"

My smile faded as quickly as it came.

"You wouldn't believe it," he gushed excitedly, pointing to the Asgardian standing next to him. "This guy has done everything. I got a team coming together, it's brilliant."

"You see?" Loki told me, clasping his hand around Selvig's shoulder. "He's never been happier." The astrophysicist nodded for emphasis.

I looked away from Dr. Selvig, feeling repulsed and saddened at the same time by his behavior. I looked around the large room and took a deep breath. The air was damp and humid, and smelled musty, like my basement. I attempted to change the conversation. "Where am I? And how did I get here?"

"Magic, of course," Loki responded obviously, arching one eyebrow in response to my apparently idiotic question. "I have the power to teleport where I like."

"Are all Asgardians like that?"

"I'm especially skilled," he responded, preening himself like a peacock.

"I'd rather you knocked me unconscious and brought me here," I muttered under my breath.

"This is an old S.H.I.E.L.D. base," Dr. Selvig offered, motioning around the room. "Completely forgotten."

"How in the world did you find it?" I said on an exhale, knowing that S.H.I.E.L.D. has knowledge of all their bases, present and past. I found it hard to believe that someone casually mentioned this one base that had been abandoned. I'm surprised it wasn't destroyed to remove any remaining intelligence.

"One of the guards was kind to direct us to it," Selvig explained. "But Pedagia, you haven't explained what you're doing here. Are you here to help us?" As he finished his sentence, his face became blank and free of expression. I stepped forward with alarm, wondering if he was about to suffer a stroke, or worse.

The moment passed as quickly as it came, and he turned on his heel and strode out of an open door, mumbling to himself. Loki followed Dr. Selvig to the door, and then closed it gently, pressing his hand against it. Not facing me, he reached for a metal lock, and turned it with a quiet click. Warning bells went off in my head and my fight-or-flight instincts kicked in.

The sensation of two hands applying pressure around my wrists kept me pinned to the damp pillar while Loki made his advance. I struggled uselessly against invisible bonds.

"Magic?" I panted, my legs threatening to buckle below me out of fear. The tremors started in my legs and slowly advanced upwards until my entire body was quivering in his presence. Cool breath tickled my face and green eyes bore into mine while the sensation of something cold sliding up towards my neck made me shiver again. I began to register the sensation of pain in my head, and when my head was roughly tilted upwards towards his face, I gritted my teeth, looking into the soft glow of the lamp above me. A whimper escaped my mouth when his hold tightened in my hair and nails scratched against my scalp.

_Tell me this is just a nightmare! _I thought wildly, feeling cold fingers dance against my collarbone. _Tell me I'm at home, right now, wrapped in my green comforter, tell me this isn't happening to me!_

"I'm going to tell you all of the things I will do to you if you don't give me the information I require," said Loki, his voice soft and dangerous. I swallowed quickly and kept my eyes turned towards the lamp, even though the sensation burned my eyes. I couldn't face whatever was waiting for me if I looked at him.

"It begins with mind control. A simple tap of my scepter and your mind is _mine. _There is nothing you can hide from me. Your secrets will be laid out before me like a virgin bride, so ready and willing to be taken," he purred, playing with the chain that held the disk. That voice was clearly meant for seduction. Instead, he used it to calmly lay out methods of murder.

"And unfortunately for you, Elliot," he continued, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. I stilled when I felt his smooth cheek brush against mine, and then his cold breath was near my ear. I looked past his armor-clad shoulder, wishing that Dr. Selvig, or anyone would walk in and distract him.

He took his time finishing the sentence, stretching the moment that it felt like eons had passed.

"_That is only the beginning_."

* * *

The Asgardian left me to my own devices in the empty room after he had finished with me. After he left, I crawled underneath one of the metal tables, my head on fire from his ruthless grip on my hair to force my head upwards. My wrist laid limply to the side as I ducked my head between my legs and closed my eyes, wishing the nightmare would end, and I would wake up to find myself lying on bed, surrounded by my mint green comforter that smelled of home. I squeezed my eyes shut and refused to let hot tears leak out of the side of my eyes.

All of my life, I sat in front of a computers. I wasn't anyone important. I was needed, but I could be used a scapegoat, if need be. And I was alright with that. I had been satisfied with it for nearly ten years, remaining an unknown, part of the background. I could never be an agent. I knew I wasn't able to handle the fighting, the torture, or the mental aspect of just being one. 10 minutes was all it took, and Loki had successfully wrung a promise to provide any and all information he needs to succeed in his plan, or else he would follow through with all he had planned for me.

I squeezed my eyes tighter and tried to erase the smooth, silky whispers reverberating in my mind. Those haunting green eyes cut through my defenses like a knife slicing through butter.

While Loki laid out plainly what he intended to do to me, I watched as pure elation filled his eyes while I winced and whimpered in pain from his hold on my hair. I thought that having short hair meant that no man...or Asgardian, would be able to grab hold of my hair and drag me off somewhere. Maybe my hair was longer than I thought. If I ever escaped alive, I was going to get a haircut.

Already, I was in the midst of calculating a plan. If I could hide my emotions, I could frustrate him, irritate him, because he would never know exactly how much pain I was in. I'm sure it would be easy. I don't like showing emotion. I can't handle them well. Anger, crying, grief, joy...I'm not very good at experiencing them or showing them. When my grandmother died last year, I was the only one who didn't shed a tear.

It wasn't because I didn't care. On the inside, my heart broke. Perhaps it's in my nature-calculating and looking for the concrete.

I was so used to thinking about how I was going to keep the database running smoothly, not wondering how I could hide my emotions from a God from another world with a lust for pain and suffering. I knew it was going to be hard. I had never met someone with the ability to provoke fear and anger in me so quickly. _This doesn't make any sense. _

For a moment, I turned my frustrations towards Sullivan. I almost didn't regret killing him, for all that he had put me through. He could have trusted anyone else to hold this disk. All it's done is gotten me into a situation I had no control over. I was out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands and in the middle of nowhere, with an alien who was bent on ruling the Earth. Sometimes I compared this scenario to plots from comic books. You never really expect these things to happen to you.

I exhaled again and thought about my family. Katie, Megan, and my parents have no idea that I'm not even in New York anymore. For all I know, they could think I'm dead. Now I wish I'd sent that email.

My thoughts continued to race. I remembered that Fury was there with Loki transported me to this place. What is S.H.I.E.L.D. doing right now? Organizing a search? That made me a feel a bit better. I knew Fury wasn't going to let this disappear quietly.

_Maybe I shouldn't have killed Sullivan. Maybe they would have been able to remove his mind control and get information out of him._

The sounds of Loki's angry voice disturbed me from my thoughts and I raised my head as his voice came closer. It sounded like he was arguing. Accompanying his voice was the sound of footsteps, and there were at least 20.

"Silence!" his voice barked angrily. "You will have your turn to observh the Tesseract. For now, this is where you will labor." The door swung open and I tensed, watching a pair of dark boots enter the room. His footsteps stopped in the middle of the room, and he rotated. I pressed my mouth into the crook of my arm to silence my breathing. In a perfect world, he would assume that I escaped and run off, giving me time to run.

A chuckle that held no amusement escaped from his mouth. "Elliot," he sang in a whisper, like a mother would to a child, "Where are you?"

It sounded like something out of a horror movie. Like where the killer opens a music box and a creepily eerie sound comes out, and you know that the murderer is behind you, drawing a knife. I pressed my mouth further into my arm.

"What is it?" a male voice called from outside, sounding curious.

"Silence!" Loki snapped again, marching to the door. "You are not allowed to _speak _until spoken to!"

There were a few moments of silence. "Sorry," the man mumbled, sounding clearly embarrassed. I watched as Loki entered the room again, and the bottom of his spear came into view from where I sat.

"Elliot, if you do not show your face, our agreement will be severed. And I do not take broken promises well," he whispered, a threat in his voice.

That alone was enough to bring me from my hiding place. Sighing with defeat, I crawled from underneath my hiding place, shoving away thoughts of the curved tip touching my chest and ruining me. Taking a deep breath, I stood upright and turned to face Loki, whose eyes had stopped darting around the room and settled on me. A look I had seen way too many times, a look of satisfaction, filled his face and I noticed the group of people standing outside in a darkened hallway, holding briefcases and tablets. They peered around Loki's frame to peer at me. I glared at every one of them. Most of them were white coats and some were guards. Traitors. I glared at every one of them. They responded with blank, nonchalant looks.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has many enemies, as you may know. You will help them," he stated, no room for argument in his voice. "They will build a replication of the item used to hold the Tesseract, and then harness its power for my use. Do not forget that I have anytime access to your mind," he added as I opened my mouth to speak. "Do not be so foolish to assume you have the upper hand, mortal. I am in control no matter _what _you do. You think that your weak training will find some _angle_," he hissed on the word, "To save yourself." He raised his scepter and pointed at my chest. "I can take that disk from you anytime I please."

My eyes darted to the glowing sphere in his scepter, wary of it.

Triumphant in his words, Loki exited the room, his green cape billowing behind him and the group walked inside, excitedly buzzing about the project. They were all people I'd seen maybe once or twice in my life, pushing up their glasses, talking about modifications. I stood in the room and watched as they began to pull out laptops.

"I thought I'd never get the chance!"

"This is completely unbelievable!"

"I can't wait to write about this in my memoirs."

Just samples of the things the scientists eagerly chatted about while they set themselves up. A few scientists shoved past me with irritated looks on their faces. I refused to remove myself from the middle of the room, still staring at the open door that might lead to freedom.

At the same moment, 5 or 6 armed guards walked into the room.

"Are you going to help of not?" an irritated female scientist asked behind me, lugging a big cardboard box. "You're in the way."

"No, I'm not going to help," I mumbled, shuffling towards the door dully. "Not at all."

* * *

**please leave reviews, they encourage me to write! i am trying to improve my description skills, let me know what you think, or what could be improved. i sort of...enjoyed writing that little scene, does that make me weird? XD**


	15. technical difficulties

Over the next two days I separated myself from the scientists who were busy coming up with blueprints and schematics for the machine that would hold the Tesseract. It seemed that they weren't just trying to build a replication of it. They were trying to build something else. Something bigger.

Physically and mentally, I suffered. I haven't had anything to eat or drink in two days. My stomach no longer rumbled with hunger but instead I felt a lingering, dull ache, and my mouth was dry. My limbs were sore and tired, and my wrist hadn't healed. I kept my mouth shut because I could barely open it.

This abandoned base was smaller than headquarters, or P.E.G.A.S.U.S., but it was quiet and made for a good walk. The room I was in earlier must have been a lab during its prime. Once you exited the long stretch of tunnel, you found yourself in an abandoned hanger. To my surprise, there were still some old aircraft, covered with cobwebs and dust. Toolboxes and outdated electronics lay on the floor, along with some rubble, and I began to wonder if this base had been attacked, leading to its abandonment.

My stomach growled loudly as I approached two sets of large doors, and I winced, rubbing my abdomen.

I wondered if I might be able to get them open and escape this temporary prison, but the controls were broken, split in two with one part hanging to the ground. It looked like it had been done years ago, so I assumed Loki hadn't broken it with his scepter.

_If anything, this base has to have units, _I surmised, looking between two hallways, one on the left, and one on the right. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being followed, and then I walked to the right.

The lightbulbs above my head still functioned, but they flickered every now and then, giving the hallway an eerie effect. I absently stuck my hands in my gun holster and felt the interior where my gun used to be.

_The electricity is working, which means that is food here, it should be eatable. _I knew that they only gave us food that would last a very long time, because our stays at bases never lasted a week.

My thoughts were correct, as I stumbled upon an old living unit with an open door, and found packages of food that still had ten years to expire. The microwave in the room looked it belonged to the 1980s, but it still warmed a frozen sandwich to perfection.

I sat down on a creaky bar stool in front of the kitchen counter and looked around the room. These living units were more spacious than ours; there was a couch resting in front of a broken TV, and two rooms, one of which was a bathroom and the other a bedroom.

"Lucky bastards," I muttered through a piece of ham. "Four by four bedrooms...not acceptable." I sighed and stuffed another piece of the sandwich in my mouth. It was plain ham and cheese, but it tasted like a gourmet burger to me. I reached for a cup of water and drained it in two gulps.

This living unit was old, out of date, but it was acceptable, and I decided to temporarily make it mine. I hadn't slept in two days, or eaten for that matter.

_I wonder where Loki is, _I thought for a moment, becoming motionless. For a moment, I smiled, hoping that he was suffering some kind of emotional agony. Hopefully storming around, trying to locate me. It would've been his fault. No one really keeps an eye on me.

_Stupid alien, _I thought angrily. _Ruined everything. Everything was going okay until you showed up and killed everyone and took the Tesseract. No one was yelling at me at work, no one was dying across the world, my sister typically hated me, and I got to eat as much food as I wanted. Like things should be. _

Interrupting my thoughts was the feeling that there was someone in the room, and my heart dropped into my stomach.

"I would very much appreciate it if you joined us in the lab, Elliot," Loki's seductive voice crooned behind me. "We need your help."

His voice didn't sound like he'd been through any agony. I chewed my lip derisively.

"How did you find me?" I asked quietly, toying with the last remains of my ham sandwich.

"Simple magic, mortal, beyond your comprehension. It's time to do what you were brought here to do."

"And that is what, exactly?" I stated, gathering my courage and standing to face the Asgardian. He looked different. He wore more armor than before, and-

A giggle escaped my mouth before I could stop it, and his eyes temporarily lost their steely glare and became confused. "What?" he growled.

For the first time in a long time, a wide grin spread to my face and I stared at the new piece of armor he was wearing: a golden helmet that settled against his prominent cheekbones, that rose to form a v-shape between his eyebrows. Attached to it were two curved, golden horns the length of my forearm.

It looked absolutely ridiculous. It was literally the dumbest thing I'd ever seen anyone wear.

"The helmet make you look like an idiot," I managed between chortles. "What is that? Do all Asgardians wear it?" I wiped my eyes, unable to stop laughing. "Feeling horny?"

Loki didn't respond and let me chuckle a little while longer before speaking.

"At this current moment, I'm not sexually aroused." His voice dropped to just above a whisper. "Although, the sight of you kneeling before me might change that."

The words were so eloquently spoken and rather simple, but they were enough to silent my giggles completely and sent my heart racing as he stared at me with those glittering green eyes, his face partially hidden by the shadow of the door. I gripped the edge of the chair I sat on tightly as he stepped forward, his eyes dropping to stare at something. I followed his eyes and saw that my knuckles were turning white with the force I gripped the chair with.

Heavy lidded eyes bore into mine and for a moment, I wondered if he was going to follow through with another one of his promises. Instead, he straightened up and tilted his head curiously.

"Have I scared you, little one?"

* * *

In the span of time that I'd left the lab, work had been done. Computer stations and monitors, panels and experiments had been set up and the cables connected to provide electricity and a little more illumination. Like I was back in New York, people ran around holding tablets, arguing with each other.

A heavy hand clasped on my right shoulder reminded me that I wasn't at home.

Loki was maneuvering me towards an illuminated room and my eyes widened when I saw Dr. Selvig working on the Tesseract behind see-through drapes. A similar machine was being built, but it looked like it was going to become more.

"Agent Barton," Loki's voice said quietly, as a man wearing a black sleeveless jacket, dark pants and boots, slid into my line of vision. His hair was closely cropped short, his face rough and lacking emotion, and his Tesseract blue eyes judged me harshly as they slid up and down my body. "Elliot."

"It's bad enough that you use my name like you've known me for years but it's worse that you use my full name," I mumbled under my breath.

"She has the disk?" Barton assumed, pursing his lips with distaste.

"Yes. And..." the Asgardian added, his breath tickling my ear. I froze with revulsion as his free hand slid leisurely across my collarbone to unzip my jacket yet again. "She is so willing to help us." Barton eyes locked onto my necklace and a smirk curled on his lips.

"Take the disk and extract all information," Loki barked, pushing me towards Barton. "And don't let her out of your sight, she likes to wander like a lost child," he spat. Swiftly, Barton stepped behind me and prodded me forward and I began the walk towards a single computer resting on one of the silver tables.

"Disk," he commanded roughly, holding out his hand for it. A thousand butterflies erupted in my stomach, and I found myself frozen to the spot as I stared at the computer in front of me. Sometimes I think of computers like humans. And this computer before me was so incredibly innocent, unable to fathom what information it was about to process.

"_Disk_," Barton repeated through his teeth. I squeezed my eyes tight again and exhaled, reaching behind my neck to unclasp the necklace. The disk slid cleanly into my hand and I held it out to Barton.

He snatched it from me quickly and placed it into the disk drive. Seconds later, the computer accepted the disk and began humming, sending light vibrations through the table.

"It's locked," Barton said after a few minutes, turning to face me. "Open it." I pressed my lips in a tight line and stepped in front of him, resting my hands on the keyboard. If there was some possible way to subdue Barton and escape, I would. I hated how easy this was for him. Reluctantly, I typed the password that would reveal all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information to Loki. The password I had chosen was Megan's birthday: 07182005.

On the screen, the password was accepted and my heart sunk into my stomach yet again. I hoped something would go horribly wrong, anything to prevent my mistake from following through.

Well, something did. When Agent Barton clicked on the folder that contained remnants of the hard drive, the only thing that displayed on the screen was an animated graphic of an exploding folder.


	16. epiphany

**thank you for the reviews! **

* * *

As my mind began to register that the information was gone, I began to take a few steps backward from Agent Barton, who was completely silent. My eyes darted to his clenched fist resting next to the keyboard. This entire situation smelled of trouble.

Still quiet, Barton raised his head and looked at me with narrowed eyes. Seconds later, Loki materialized by his side, looking irritated.

"The data's gone," he said through his teeth, pointing at the computer.

"It was all there," I promised, shaking my head. "I watched it all move, it all copied over. I don't know what happened to it, I _swear._"

A few white coats around us raised their heads with interest. My eyes fixed on Loki as his lips pulled backwards to reveal a snarl that would have sent a pack of lions running in the other direction. The scream that Loki unleashed sent every person in the lab into shock and some completely stopped what they were doing as he roared at the computer, veins throbbing in his neck and forehead. With one swat of his hand, he sent the computer sprawling to the floor and then grasped the edge of the table with trembling hands. I edged away from the splintered pieces of the screen.

The lab was completely silent except for the sound of Loki's harsh breathing. He leaned on the counter, gripping the edge tightly, and became mumbling to himself, as if he was searching for an answer to his problem. Barton patiently clasped his hands in front of him as if this has happened before.

For a moment, I hoped that his plan had failed and that maybe I was home free. The data's gone. What can be done? I began to relax, still watching him in case he tried anything.

"There's nothing that can be done," I said cautiously, planting the idea in his mind that I was of no use to him.

"Oh, but there is," Loki replied, his voice husky. He stood upright, a smile tugging at the end of his thin lips. "_You_."

"Me?" I repeated, licking my lips nervously.

"The data probably erased itself because it wasn't running on a S.H.I.E.L.D. computer, sir," Barton surmised curtly. "This is a personal computer."

"Fair play, Agent Barton, but we haven't lost all hope," Loki promised, raising his hand to the man. "We still have access to what we need."

"It didn't erase itself on mine when I glanced at it," I said thoughtfully, my eyebrows coming together.

"A glance?" Loki echoed, his eyebrows raising. He chuckled. "Then you have seen the information, have you not?"

I realized my mistake too late. I bit my tongue, keeping my face as still as could.

"HAVE YOU?" he screamed, his features transforming. I backed away from him warily and hit my hip on the side of the table. I struggled to keep my face composed. As he leaned closer, watching my face, I couldn't help but widen my eyes in trepidation. "You have." He tilted his head again. "Have you seen...all of it?"

_Please stop asking me questions, _I thought with exasperation.

"You have seen everything on that disk. I can see the truth written on your face as plain as day, Elliot. All your secrets. Laid out like a virgin bride, so ready to be exposed," he added, trailing off to a whisper. His words made my stomach burn with revulsion. "I have no need to have your mind. I can see everything on your face."

_Shit. _I nearly let angry tears build in my eyes in frustration. How does he know what I'm thinking so easily? He isn't a mind reader, but how can he know? So many of my friends and family told me it's always hard to know what I'm thinking, but I have an impassive face, perfected over the years. Yet, this Asgardian descends from the sky with the ability to strip my defenses clean and know everything.

"Your mind is swimming with knowledge and secrets you had never hoped to learn," Loki whispered, his eyes searching mine for reactions to his words. "You hold information about your superiors and your friends you have never hoped to learn. Do you realize that you hold knowledge that could tear down the thing you love so dearly?"

I refused to give him an answer so I crossed my arms and tried to give him my most steely look. That and I did not agree with his words- I do not _love _S.H.I.E.L.D. As a matter of fact, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s torn my family apart.

"I can see in your eyes, Elliot, that your heart wavers in your loyalty," Loki continued casually, standing upright. "They have hurt you." He curled his fingers around his golden staff. "Do you see now? We are one in the same. Two lost creatures in the dark," he added softly.

That observation piqued my curiosity. "How do you know anything about me?" I asked, leering at him, relaxing my arms a little.

"I know enough about you, _Elliot Pedagia_," he said, standing upright, "To know that your sister and her child intend to journey together before the day's end."

"They what?" I asked dumbly, not understanding his wording.

Barton turned to me and put it in simple terms. "Your sister and the kid are traveling to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. I have snipers positioned outside the airport as we speak. I only have to say one word and they'll put two bullets through their heads."


	17. iridium

**thank you guys for reviewing, here's another chapter :)**

**happy fourth of july!**

* * *

A rising panic blossomed in the pit of stomach as I imagined how the assassination would take place.

Katie, Megan, and the husband, walking with excitement towards the airport doors to catch their flight for a weekend vacation to a lovely beach. I can imagine Megan, her face glowing with excitement, because I know she loves the beach.

Their happiness ends abruptly when Russell jerks suddenly and his body twists in a manner that sends Katie into a screaming frenzy as she watches her husband fall. Megan stares at the body lying before her, wiping spots of blood from her blond curls.

The other two fall seconds later.

"How can you even _look _at yourself? Don't you have any family at all?" I screeched with panic. "How can you even say things like that?"

Hurt filled his green eyes. "I had family."

That admission distracted me from my fury. "What do you mean _had _family? Are they all dead?"

"Agree to provide the information I seek and you and your family shall remain unharmed," the Asgardian demanded, ignoring my question. "Resist me and I will not show mercy," he explained simply.

"All your decision, Agent Pedagia," Barton added coldly, crossing his arms.

_ Did I have a choice? _I looked warily between them, accepting what had happened to me, and that this was my fault. If I had told Sullivan to ask someone else to deal with the disk, I wouldn't be here. I could have changed everything, but I didn't.

My frustration bubbled up and spilled over. "I am not a goddamn agent, Clint. I am a technician. A computer technician," I said through my teeth, staring at the radio in Barton's hands.

"Your classification doesn't-"

"FINE! CALL OFF THE SNIPERS!" I snapped, stepping towards him. The risk of revealing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information was nowhere near on the same level as the lives of my family.

Barton stared at me with bewilderment at my emotional outburst. Glancing at Loki, then to me, Barton raised a walkie-talkie to his lips and muttered, "Situation resolved. Stand down and report to base within 2 hours."

"Yes, sir," a male voice murmured. "Stand down and pack up."

I stared at the walkie-talkie in his hands anxiously, wondering if he was going to send bullets through their brains the moment I turned around.

"With that being resolved, I suggest you go assist Dr. Selvig in the creation of the device to hold the Tesseract," Barton suggested, crossing his muscular arms and jerking his head towards the doctor. "I'm sure he could use your help."

Feeling irritated, I shoved past them both, knocking into Loki with as much strength as I could muster, and strode through the drapes with flair. Selvig raised his head and smiled warmly at me. "Elliot. Put it right there," he added, pointing to two white coats.

"Dr. Selvig," I greeted him coldly, crossing my arms. "What do you need help with?" I winced as a shot of pain went across my back. Knocking into a mass of steel wasn't a good idea.

"Oh, you're helping now!" he said with pleasant surprise. "Yes, well..." he shuffled past two other white coats. "We're trying to build a device that will harness the Tesseract's power to open a portal."

"A portal for what?" _He wasn't just going to start blasting people out of the sky that way?_

"He hasn't told me, but I'm sure it's for good use," Selvig explained, setting a gray device on a table next to him. "But there are a few important pieces of information I'm missing for this."

"Which is what?" I said through my teeth. It looked like a replication of the device, but there were five or six golden bulbs around the outer rim.

"I don't know. An element," the astrophysicist responded, momentarily looking stumped. He turned to face me, his eyes eager for information. "Do you remember what was in the old machine?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," I said with a roll of my eyes. "You're the scientist."

"Pedagia," Barton's voice said quietly behind me. I stiffened for a moment and nervously chewed my lip. _I don't remember what kind of element was in that machine. I don't understand physics. I understand computers._

"I need something to stabilize it," Dr. Selvig murmured.

_Constructed with iridium as a stabilizing agent in order to keep the Tesseract from releasing too much gamma radiation at one time. _That piece of information was written in one of the schematics of the Tesseract machine. I kept my passive face on while I stared at the device.

"Pedagia?" Barton asked me. "Any ideas? We're on a schedule."

I lapsed out of passivity and glared at my dust covered boots with irritation.

"Unless..." he trailed off suggestively. "You'd rather I-"

"Iridium," I barked quickly, cutting him off before he could finish his threat. "It was..." I trailed off with defeat. "Iridium."

"Aha! That makes sense!" Dr. Selvig exclaimed, slapping his palm to his forehead. "Iridium is the perfect stabilizing agent! No wonder I used it previously."

"It doesn't sound like it was a good stabilizing agent," I said nastily as Selvig picked up the device. He ignored me and continued tapping away as Barton turned away from the drapes, a smug look on his face.

I tapped my foot anxiously on the floor. "Dr. Selvig, did you send a virus into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database?"

Selvig momentarily looked stumped. Then his eyes lit with understanding. "Virus? I suppose so, a few weeks ago," he said casually, tapping on a calculator. "Don't know why, though. Thought it might be fun." He winked at me and engaged in conversation with some white coats. I leaned against a small table, my hopes temporarily dashed. Although Selvig might have done it, I still believed that _he _didn't do it. I rubbed my chin. _Does that mean he's been under Loki's control for ages? _I turned to look at Loki, who sat on a small set of stairs, his eyes watching everyone in the room carefully.

He straightened up suddenly and took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders. His eyes drifted closed and the blue sphere on his scepter began to glow, casting a soft blue light in the corner of the room. Everyone else continued to work. How was no one noticing this?

"How did you get so many people?" Selvig chuckled suddenly, disturbing me from my thoughts. He was speaking to Barton, who slid into my line of vision.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has many enemies, Doctor. This what you need?" Barton returned, holding up a handheld device. On the screen was a rotating picture of iridium, and next to it was the image of a man named Dr. Heimrich Scheffer.

"Yep! That's iridium. It's found in meteorites and forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of." I glanced between the two of them, sensing something was about to happen.

"Why are you going to use iridium again as a stabilizing agent when it did nothing for the previous model?" I asked with confusion, watching as Selvig bustled about, picking up pieces of metal. "It clearly didn't work before."

"The Tesseract was perfectly under control until it was activated by Loki from the other side," he explained, typing on a tablet. "Unfortunately I've lost access to the black MasterCard I was given, so I can't order anymore." Selvig raised his eyes and looked past me, a grin lighting up his face.

"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it," Barton added quietly.

"Well, I didn't know. Hey!" Selvig added, walking to the edge of the room as Loki approached from the shadows. I observed that he looked almost sickly, and shaken, a light sheen of sweat across his forehead. "The Tesseract has shown me so much...it's more than knowledge, it's truth."

_Dr. Selvig, what kind of leash does he have you on? _I thought with disbelief as he looked at the Asgardian with admiration.

"I know," Loki responded with a tight smile. "And what did it show you, Agent Barton?" He turned to face the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who had walked over towards another table.

"My next target," Barton responded roughly.

"What do you need?" Loki approached him from behind, his hands tightening on his scepter.

"A distraction." I watched as he pulled out a large bow. "And an eyeball."

"An eyeball?" Selvig repeated, mimicking my confusion.

"In order to access the iridium you need, we'll need to access Heimrich's private storage area. He's a scientist as well. Who better?" Barton began adjusting the black cuffs on his wrists. "And more than likely, we'll need an eyeball to get into it."

"Perfect," Loki purred, turning to face Selvig. "I've heard these about this...Germany. I will provide a distraction to lure S.H.I.E.L.D."

"What kind of distraction? An explosion?" Barton began examining the tips of his arrows with years of practice.

"No. Me. All those foolish people want is me in their hands, then they will get it. You will have time to complete your task, and you, Eric, will have time to complete the project without any potential interference," Loki said plainly. He cut his eyes to me. "You, however, hold some information that I need."

"We already established that," I responded, narrowing my eyes. The Asgardian raised one pale, slender finger, and made a "come hither" motion.

"Agent Barton has been so kind to inform me that a team was being brought together to find my precious Tesseract," Loki revealed as I unwillingly moved towards him, pushing the drapes aside. "What team?"

"The A-team?" I tried. Barton, who was in the middle of putting bows away, whipped his head around to fix me with a glare.

"So much for American humor," I muttered under my breath, looking at my boots again. A white hand darted towards me out of the corner of my eye and without warning, my face was tilted up and green eyes bore into mine, demanding more information. I winced audibly when he tightened his grip, as my jaw still hadn't healed from the last time he nearly crushed my face.

"Tell me what you know, Elliot," he ordered.


	18. in the middle of nowhere

**thanks for the reviews, as always :) to those people who have favorited the story, please leave reviews and tell me what you think! they encourage me to write. hopefully it's not too boring; if so, stick with it a little while, because i'm already in the process of beginning another story with elle, and it's ten times more interesting. enjoy!  
**

* * *

I felt myself slowly slip into relaxation once Loki left with Agent Barton and a few other rogue agents within the hour. I was left in the care of several guards, who Loki promised to kill without a second thought if I should escape. I truly didn't think he had a reason to even tell them to watch me, seeing as how they were all twice my size.

I was still trying to calculate potential methods to escape, regardless of his threat to the guards, and to me. In all honesty, this was the only chance I had to run. Loki was the major obstacle between me and freedom. And he was no longer here.

Therefore, it made perfect sense that this was the time to leave.

I sat in the corner and watched as Selvig continued darting around the lab, talking to the assistants. The two guards in the room packed up and down the length of the room, their eyes darting everywhere and always settling on me longer than usual. One of them fixed me with a particularly menacing glare and I slouched in the chair, glancing at a nearby door that was partially open.

Plan A was to somehow kick the door open a little wider once the guards were on the other side of the room and find my way out of this abandoned base before they could get to me. From there, it was a matter of escaping and hiding. I only hoped that this base was located in the middle of a city somehow.

Once that happened, however, I was in a dilemma. How was I going to return to S.H.I.E.L.D.? I had no money or phone. If I was in a city somewhere, I could possibly ask someone for a phone and contact them myself. Once I locked myself in, I knew I would have questions to answer.

"Why did you kill Sullivan? Why did he access the computer room? What did you have to do with it? Why did Loki take you?"

In the time I had spent thinking in the corner, I came up with a few responses:

"He was under Loki's mind control, and he was a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"He accessed the computer room because he was told by Director Fury to copy every piece of information onto a disk."

"Sullivan wanted to give me the disc but he didn't have time to give it to me before the Tesseract created a portal for Loki."

"Loki took me because Sullivan had lied and said I had it. When I arrived at his 'lair', we discovered that he had hid it in an old storage room because he wanted to use the information for himself."

What was the wrong in blaming Sullivan? He was dead, anyway. Hopefully he wouldn't return from beyond the grave and haunt me for my actions.

The guard immediately in front of me turned on his heel and tightened his grip on his sidearm, walking in the other direction. The second guard was walking at the same pace, examining the scientists. Watching them nervously, I edged my foot out a little and pushed the door open, giving me just enough space to slip through it. When the two of them faced forward, I lunged for the door, tripping over my feet in the process, but it was enough to get me through the door.

I held out a loud breath, unaware that I'd been holding one for so long. Hastily, I slammed the door closed and slid a metal bolt in place. From there, the clock started ticking.

The hallway I stood in was empty and dark, save for a few flickering lights. At the end of the hall was a triangle-shaped door, and next to it was a flashing red button.

Faintly, I heard the sound of loud yelling and clanging outside, and I quickened my steps. Gunshots rang from behind the door and I slammed my hand on the button, watching as the paneled doors slid away to reveal a long stretch of highway, surrounded by corn fields.

I groaned with disbelief but stepped into the harsh sunlight, covering my eyes.

* * *

My lungs burned with effort as I pushed my body further to run down the highway, as much as possible. Around me on either side were cornstalk fields that seemed to stretch for ages, which led me to believe that the base was in a rural area.

I kept close to the edge of the road while I ran, just in case I needed to jump into the stalks to hide myself. For the most part, nothing eventful had happened, and I was grateful for it. Unfortunately, my energy was waning. My suit was tight and slick against my skin, constricting my breathing. After a few more paces, I came to a stop, resting my hands on my knees for support while I wheezed fr air.

"I can't do this," I panted to myself as sweat rolled down my cheeks and onto the ground. "This suit is going to kill me." I wondered if I was going to pass out from the lack of sleep and food.

While I took the time to catch my breath, a frightening thought occurred to me. I had just escaped from Loki and his manic, mind-controlled guards.

It was too easy.

I whirled around immediately, staring at the cornstalks around me, wondering if they were trailing me, just waiting for me to lead them to S.H.I.E.L.D. There's no possible way. I should have had to fight through guards to leave that place. What are the odds that door was left partially open? That I wasn't bound?

He wants me to leave, I thought to myself, resting my hand on my throat. _I'm leading him to something. _I recalled that he said he had bigger plans for me. Is this all apart of his grand scheme?

Matching my breathing was the sound of an engine roaring from nearby. Squinting my eyes, I stood upright to see a dark dot in the distance, approaching me. The heat wave blurred my vision, but I began to see that it was a commercial truck.

Without thinking, I jumped in the middle of the road and started waving my arms like I was high on speed. From a distance, the truck began to slow and I felt a smile of victory spread across my face. The large truck came to a halt in front of me and I coughed from the exhaust and gasoline smell. The passenger door opened and I raced to the other side. Out of the open door was a thick, hairy, outstretched hand. Grasping it, the samaritan pulled me up and inside.

Inside, a portly man wearing a red plaid shirt, blue overalls, boots, and chewing on the toothpick smiled at me. He tipped his trucker hat to me in greeting. "Where'll you be goin'?" he asked me in a Southern accent that reminded me of Kat's.

"Where're you going?" I panted, closing the door behind me. "Better yet, where am I?"

"Drank too much?" the man chuckled, looking at me.

I glanced at him warily, putting on my seatbelt. "Something like that."

"Well, we're drivin' through Richwood, West Virginia, ma'am," the man responded with a raised, bushy eyebrow. "On route to Charleston."

"Perfect," I breathed, leaning against the chair. "I'll just follow you. I need to get to a major city."

The man stuck out his hand again. "Name's John."

"Elle. Nice to meet you." I didn't bother to wonder how convenient it was that a large truck should happen to be heading down the exact same stretch of highway.

The journey from Richwood to Charleston was long, but it was a welcome break from everything I dealt with the past few weeks or so. I leaned against the chair the whole time, feeling cool air blast my face and lower my body temperature. John was a nice man, based in Oxford, OH; he drives trucks for a living to support him and his wife, and when he can, sends a little something to his grown children.

From time to time John would ask questions about me, where I'm from, what I do...and better yet, what I really was doing in the middle of nowhere. For a while I dodged his questions and asked about him. After a while, he was fed up.

"Some friends played a prank," I lied when he refused to drop the subject. "I thought they were taking me out for my 21st."

"Well, shoot, why didn' you just say that?" John exclaimed, glancing at me for a moment before he changed lanes.

"Well, who wants to admit their friends got them good?"

* * *

John told me that he still had a little bit of driving to do when he dropped me off on the outskirts of Charleston and directed me to a restaurant to use a phone to call my "friends". With a kind smile, he put two 100 dollar bills in my hand. I refused immediately, but he pressed the bills firmly into my palm.

"Just to make sure you get home safe," he told me with a wink.

The restaurant was a small diner with 10-15 people sitting in booths with blue chairs, eating and chatting. I sidled up to the wooden counter where a bartender was cleaning glasses. He cut his eyes to mine, looking irritated that he had a customer to deal with. "What can I get ya?"

"Um...actually, can I use your phone?" I asked, feeling awkward.

"Ya gotta buy some food, first," he responded gruffly.

"I'm gonna buy a hamburger when I'm done," I offered, nervously wondering where I would go to next if I couldn't use the phone. Wordlessly, he cocked his head to the right and I shuffled around the counter and into a small area with a payphone.

_I miss my cell, _I thought with irritation, dialing Kat's private number with the coins John gave me. I glanced around the area, surveying my surroundings.

A click sounded on the other line, and then I heard a cheerful, "Hello?"

"Kat, it's me," I murmured quietly, watching an old woman walk past me with a child at her side into the family bathroom.

"Miss Elle?" she exclaimed. "Miss Elle, you're alive?"

"Kat, hush!" I whispered urgently. "I need you to come get me."

"Well...I can't, Miss Elle, I'm on the Helicarrier, remember?"

_Shit, _I thought immediately. "Well, I need _someone _to come get me. I barely made it out and they might be looking for me. I need to get to S.H.I.E.L.D. as quickly as possible, Kat, can you help me?"

"I..." she trailed off and I heard muted voices nearby. "I...um, hang on a second. Yes? Yes, sir, I have her on the phone...she says she escaped from the Asgardian..."

Longest phone call ever. I worried for a minute that it was Fury she was speaking to.

"Miss Elle?" Her voice sounded amused.

"Yes?" I asked impatiently, tapping my fingers on the silver box surrounding the phone. The longer I spent there the more I began to worry that someone was trailing me. I glanced around the room, trying to look like I was casually observing my surroundings, not looking for glowing blue eyes.

"Ever heard of...erm...Tony Stark?"

"Obviously, who hasn't?" The billionaire engineer, former playboy-turned-committed partner to Pepper Potts, his assistant.

"Well, he said he'll sent a private jet for you."

"I'm sorry?" I asked immediately, my eyes widening. "He's on the Helicarrier?"

"Yes...he's here, and...Dr. Banner, and Captain Rogers...and Agent Romanoff..." she continued rambling for a minute.

_The Avengers Initiative must have taken flight, _I realized with a smile of relief. "Um, okay, then." Who was I to argue? I relaxed and twirled the phone cord around my finger.

I heard some rustling on the other end and inserted an extra quarter to be safe. "It's just...sir, could you just-!"

"Kat?" I asked with alarm, standing upright.

"Hello?" a male voice sighed with exasperation on the other end of the line.

"Um...hello, Mr. Stark." I'd heard his voice once or twice on radio stations during a period in media history when everyone who was anyone talked about him and his Iron Man suit.

"Tony, my name isn't Howard. Listen, you need a ride out of...where, exactly?" he asked shortly. I stammered over my words. How does this man make me feel stupid so quickly?

"Um...Charleston, West Virginia, on the outskirts."

"How the hell did you end up in West Virginia?"

"It's a long story," I asked honestly. And it was. Starting with that man in the black baseball cap.

"Whatever. If you can find your way to...erm...Yeager Airport downtown...there will be a nice, cute little...jet waiting for you."

"Thank you," I said gratefully, still surprised. "But...why?"

"Someone told me you might be important," Stark said casually. "Some intel or something like that, kay? I have other places to be. You have about...45 minutes to get there, so get a move on, kid."

The call ended abruptly and I stared at the phone feeling confused but happy at Stark's offer.

I was about to leave the restaurant when I remembered my promise to the bartender. I ordered a hamburger and fries, and with the bartender's reluctant help, was on my way to the airport, stuffing my face.


	19. safe at last

The Helicarrier was a hell of a lot more impressive up close than in the models I'd seen. As the jet began its approach, I pressed my hands to the cold glass like an eager child to get a closer look. The Helicarrier was gray in color, with two stacked carrier decks with 5 or 6 aircraft vehicles on them, a hull number of 64 and four large, circular engines. My eyes drifted away from the Helicarrier and stared at the wisps of clouds that flew past us as the jet slowly landed on the runaway. A group of people emerged from below and some men wearing bright orange vests slowly guided the plane forward as it slowed down.

For the first time in weeks, I felt every limb in my body relax, my breathing slow, and my mind was clear. A lazy smile touched my lips. I was safe now.

I yawned to pop my ears and then removed my seatbelt, stretching leisurely. For the first time in a long time, I had a good sleep and some proper food that eased the ache in my stomach. I still felt a little sore, and my arm was still bruised from Loki's rough grip.

The door to the jet opened automatically and I stumbled, nearly falling down the stairs, but I managed to catch myself. I raised my eyes to look at my audience, and it was if I'd arrived at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. all over again. Director Fury, Maria Hill, and Kat were waiting for me. Ever the Southern belle, Kat was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. I smiled tightly at her; did she have to pull the handkerchief? Who even carries those around?

"Oh, Miss Elle," she sobbed, rushing forward without a moment's hesitation. "I thought you dead." I grunted when she wrapped her arms around my midriff and squeezed.

"Uh, I'm okay, Kat," I said awkwardly, with a stiff pat on her shoulder. Kat stepped back, still smiling through her tears. I forced a smile for her.

"Agent Pedagia," Hill greeted me, stepping forward with Fury at her heel. "Good to see you alive and well." I shook her hand weakly, glancing at Fury, whose face was stoic as ever.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Sir."

"Pedagia," he responded coolly. "A welcome surprise."

_You don't sound surprised, _I thought dully, looking away from his dark eye immediately. _Or pleased._

Maria cleared her throat awkwardly, and I raised my eyes to look at her. "Come with me, Pedagia, we'll get you out of that suit and into a hot shower." A kind smile touched her lips and she motioned for me to follow her. Fury gave a slight inclination of his head as I followed his assistant across the runaway and into the ship.

* * *

I returned to the command center of the Helicarrier a few hours later, wearing a freshly laundered suit, carrying a new sidearm, a new I.D. card, and a white bandage cloth around my wrist, ordered by Dr. Banner. Hill asked him to come to the infirmary on-board to examine my bruises. He whistled with disbelief when he got a look at the bruises, perfectly aligned in a row.

Dr. Banner was a nice guy. For someone who had the capacity to tear New York to pieces, he was very quiet and reserved. While he filled a bottle of pain medication, he explained to me that he was working on locating the Tesseract as a favor to Fury. Shyly, he offered to show me his lab once I had fully recovered and was debriefed. I gladly accepted, even though I didn't really know what he studied.

The command center was both similar and different to the one at headquarters and the former complex; there were raised platforms above the computer stations so Fury could monitor the situation from anywhere, and there was a raised platform at the front of the command center with six monitors encircling the stage. Rather than a large monitor, a large window provided anytime access to the view outside. I had to admit that it was beautiful. For the most part, I spent my days holed up in front of my computer or in my house, so I never traveled that much. Today, it was a cloudless day, with not a cloud in sight. Maria told me she was pleased that the weather was cooperating, because it meant that in the case of an attack, we would be able to see the enemy rather than peering through covers of clouds.

Technicians were busy typing away at their computers, others using face recognition software that I barely remembered while I stood on the high platform, observing my new surroundings. Behind me was a large circular table with 10 chairs.

"...not necessarily. Yikes, what'd he do, break your arm?" came Tony Stark's voice from behind. I turned to face him and he eyed the white sling that held my left arm. "I haven't seen the man, but I heard he's a _stick._" Agent Coulson, who was with him, cracked a grim smile.

Tony Stark certainly didn't give a shit about hiding the fact that he was rich; he strutted towards me, oozing confidence, dressed in a black suit that was probably three times my paycheck. His hair was perfectly coiffed to look wind-blown.

Intelligent brown eyes were waiting for me when I finished my observation. "Pleased?" he asked me, a teasing grin on his lips. "I can't help it, either."

I smiled a little, feeling at ease, and I stuck out my hand. "Um...thank you for sending that jet. I really appreciated it."

He shook it once. "Yeah, so what happened there?" Stark asked, crossing his arms and taking a stance. "In the middle of West Virginia? Weren't you in...New York, or something?"

_Rude, rude, rude._ _  
_

"Mr. Stark-" Coulson began, smiling with patience at the billionaire, who turned on him in exasperation. "We would rather have her debriefed than play 20 questions with you."

"But it's one of my favorite games," Stark said with wide eyed innocence. "Did you have a childhood, Coulson? I played that all the time."

Coulson shook his head and looked at me. "Welcome back, Agent Pedagia."

I pursed my lips in response to his greeting. "I'm an agent, now? Since when? I'm a computer technician."

"When you single-handedly killed someone who could have been a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D. and escaped from an assailant who killed 80 people in three days. It's not as important as disarming a time bomb and saving hundreds of lives, but we'll take what we can get."

"Um...thank you, I guess." _Agent Pedagia. Doesn't sound too bad. _I never had any particular desire to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but I figured that I may as well go along with it.

"Spunky for a...what, five foot four...skinny thing? Yeah. I'd say five foot four. Are you five foot four?" Stark pointed at my frame with a calculating gaze.

"I'm five foot four," I muttered, thoroughly embarrassed by the attention.

"Agent Pedagia, if you'll come with me, we'd love to have you _thoroughly _debriefed," Coulson said, stepping to the side and motioning to a hallway. Smiling politely at Tony, I shifted past him and followed Coulson.

"Don't let him piss you off!" Stark called from behind. "He's good at that!"


	20. mischief comes to the helicarrier

**thanks for reviews, as always! enjoy!**

* * *

Coulson leaned forward on the small steel table, folding his fingers together patiently. "It's been a long 72 hours."

I nodded in agreement, twiddling my thumbs beneath the table. I found myself in another interview room, similar to the one back at headquarters. I kept my eyes trained on the table so I wouldn't have to look up, at the crowd of people probably standing behind the mirror.

"Starting with P.E.G.A.S.U.S," he added, clasping his hands in front of him. "No, how about I tell you what _we _know." He opened a manila folder, clearing his throat. "On the night Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. imploded from the Tesseract, we have logs showing that your supervisor, Agent Sullivan, accessed a room containing the supercomputer. We don't know why."

"Agent Sullivan told me before then that he had been assigned to copy all the material off the hard drive by Director Fury," I explained, trying to keep my story straight. "He told me that he was going to copy the information onto a disk." The struggle to keep my voice even grew as Coulson watched me with calculating eyes, probably trying to use some training to figure out if I was lying.

"Did you see the disk?" he asked softly, his eyes still boring into mine.

"No, but he said he had it with him. At the last minute he asked me to do it because he had to check on Selvig."

"What did you do?"

I swallowed quickly. "I did what I was ordered. I copied the information onto the disk and waited outside to make sure nothing was going to collapse. When it was finished, I gave it back to him."

"You are aware that was classified information," Coulson said with a raised eyebrow. I kept my eyes focused on him, not on the people behind the glass. "And we could strip you of everything, dump you on the street in the nearest city, and leave you there for breaching protocol. Ms. Pegadia, you may or may not be aware of this, but your involvement in this entire situation makes you look incredibly guilty."

"What've I done to make me look guilty?" I felt my passive face melt away as I realized the implication behind his words.

"Accessed classified information and escaped in the arms of a killer...without struggling." He tilted his head. "Which makes you look very, _very_ guilty."

_It's probably just interrogation tactics, _I told myself firmly. "Agent Coulson, Loki is as strong as ten bodybuilders. I'm 120 pounds."

"Speaking of which, here's the _big_ question," Coulson replied, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You're a technician. You type on computers, you hide in the basement, you update programs. What does a God want with a technician?"

I was starting to dislike Agent Coulson by the minute. "He thought I had the disk."

"Did you?"

I sighed in exasperation. "No. Sullivan had it, because I gave it to him. In the boiler room he whisked me off to West Virginia and, well..."

"Well, what?" Coulson demanded, waving his hand. "Agent Pedagia, we are short on time and limited in resources."

I found myself becoming more irritated with the questions. Coulson wasn't taking any of the hints I gave him, that I'd rather not talk about it, or skip over some things. I sighed calmly though, so the people behind the mirror wouldn't think I was getting angry. "He tortured me. Later Loki discovered that Sullivan had hidden the disk in a black bag he brought with him to the old base. When Agent Barton-"

"You encountered Agent Barton?" Coulson said sharply, interrupting me. "Is he still compromised?" I furrowed my brow when I saw a spark of hope in his eyes.

"Yes." Did they really think that getting Barton back would be easy?

Coulson's eyes fell and he scribbled something hastily. "Go on."

"And then the information deleted itself."

"Standard protocol," Coulson said curtly. "Pedagia, is there anything we need to know? Anything you should tell us?"

_The truth, probably, _I thought guiltily.

I opened and closed my mouth before speaking. "Only that Loki is dangerous. He's insane, and he's harnessing the Tesseract to build some sort of...portal. He said he was going somewhere before I escaped. I don't know what he's building the portal for, but it's dangerous. Your best bet of finding him is to locate that old base and destroy it. You won't find him because he's gone. I don't know where."

"Anything else?"

"That you might want to consider tightening security protocols for the database," I added, my eyes narrowing. "There are some former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and other enemies working for Loki to build that machine, and they almost have access to every corner of the database. It's astonishing."

"_Anything else_?"

I caught the intonation in his voice and arched an eyebrow. "Agent Coulson, do you think I'm lying to you?"

"I didn't say that." A dry smile tugged at his lips. "But I definitely feel like you're hiding something from us, but at the moment, you're free to go. Directory Fury expects you to resume your work, whatever it was before you were whisked away. And stay on top of this. No one knows Loki like you do."

* * *

With my one free hand, a few hours later I found myself sitting at the large conference table in the command center, doing some modifications to security protocols for the database, like I'd planned. I still can't believe how easily they accessed our information. The nerd in me was outraged.

For the most part, I was beginning to sink back into normal routine, feeling comfortable as I typed on the computer. No more Loki, no more scepter, no more Selvig. Whatever happened from here on out no longer concerned me. At least for the moment, I was out of Loki's hands. A small smile touched my lips and I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for my quick thinking.

But again, that lingering thought in the back of my mind did surface, that my escape was too easy. Why would Loki leave me unchained in a chair with two guards who were also charged with watching the other staff? I stuck to my thought that he let me escape. But I was back with S.H.I.E.L.D., and that was all that mattered.

I was in the middle of re-writing a few programs, when one of the technicians called, "Sir!" Raising my eyes, I saw Agent Coulson, Fury, and a tall, muscular man wearing khakis and a brown jacket peering over his shoulder. "It's a 76% match."

"For what?" I called curiously as Fury peered over his shoulder.

"Loki. No, wait...it's an 87% match!"

I walked over to the technician, who stared at the screen with disbelief. I couldn't believe it either. Standing outside of a large, marble building was Loki, dressed in a black dress jacket, black slacks, and wearing a green scarf. I had never imagined I'd see him wearing normal clothes.

On the video feed, he was standing outside talking to a group of well-dressed people. On the marble building above the entrance were some words written in German, and pictures of art beneath them. BMWs and silver Camaros rolled up to the curb and young valets opened the doors. On the screen, Loki looked around the area, a look of interest and pleasure on his face. He continued to stride towards the building, walking with a cane.

_The distraction. That's what he went to Germany for. _

Anxiously, I glanced at the others, who stared at the screen with looks of pure disbelief. My conscience told me to do something about it. So, I widened my eyes theatrically and leaned closer over his shoulder. "Wait a minute," I breathed. "Loki said something about going to Germany for some element...I think it was called Iridium."

_You're a horrible liar_, the voice chuckled in the back of my mind.

"Iridium?" a deep voice asked with curiosity. The man in the brown jacket had spoken, turning to face me. "Ma'am, what is iridium?"

_If I get called ma'am one more time, I'm going to punch a wall. I'm only 25. _Ignoring that thought, I answered his question. "An element Selvig said he needed to stabilize the Tesseract device."

"Cap'n, you're up," Fury stated seriously.

"Cap'n...what?" I repeated, glancing at the visitor. Agent Coulson cleared his throat behind me proudly.

"Pedagia, this is Captain Steve Rogers. You may remember his story."

_Oh._ With a laugh, I stuck out my hand. "Yeah, I've heard about you. I'm sorry, I've never seen your face before." A kind smile graced his face. His hair was blond, cut military style. And with muscles almost large enough to rival the Hulk's, which I noticed when he shook my hand. "I'm Elle."

"It's quite alright, ma'am. If you'll excuse me..." With a nod to Fury, he excused himself towards the nearest hallway.

I, of course, knew a little more about Steve Rogers than I'd wanted to. I watched him retreat, wondering how he was adjusting to his new life some 90 years in the future.

"Pedagia, you said you had nothing more to tell us," Fury's voice said with disapproval. "Is there anything else you're hiding from us?" I stood upright and turned to face him, feeling guilty.

"Sir, I...I told Agent Coulson that Loki had been planning to go somewhere. I didn't put two and two together until I saw the video," I stammered. "If I'm withholding information it's only because I don't have a prompt to remember it. But...Captain Rogers!" I called anxiously, prepared to run after him. He stuck his head out, raising an eyebrow. "Just...be careful."

Rogers smiled at me and nodded once, then continued on his way. The sensation that I was being watched swept over me and I turned to see Director Fury staring at me with obvious dislike. Without a word, he turned on his heel and strode for the door.

"He does that," Coulson explained with a half-hearted shrug, then following his boss. I was left with the technician, feeling completely embarrassed. I gave the male technician a weak smile and shuffled back to my computer to fix protocols for a small portion of information. A mass notification was sent out to all S.H.I.E.L.D. bases informing them of the change.

"Miss Elle?" Kat's voice said nearby.

"Yes?" I grumbled, not looking up from my work.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked timidly. She wrung her hands nervously, glancing at my bandage.

I sighed, looking at her. "Much, much better. Have you cried enough rivers?" Kat responded with a quiet giggle.

"I was just worried 'bout you," she admitted, sliding in the chair next to me. "I saw you changed security protocols. Real smart," she added with a firm nod. "Keep them nasty thieves out of the system."

"Hey, what did Fury say when you told him about Selvig's email?" I asked her, remembering the information she told me.

"He just shook his head, Miss Elle." Kat's blue eyes were worried. "He doesn't believe Selvig would do something like that."

"Me neither," I murmured. We were silent for a while until Kat placed her hand on my forearm. I flinched from the touch and she noticed. It was a knee-jerk reaction.

"Are you okay, Miss Elle?" she whispered, dragging my attention from my work. "What'd he do to you?"

"I'm okay, Kat," I lied. "Just a bruised arm and my jaw is a little sore." _Leave, please._

"What did he try to do to you?" she murmured worriedly, leaning forward.

I glanced at her again and my hands stilled when I fully looked at her. Her skin had lost its normal glow, and looked pale and ashen in the light. Her light blue eyes were fixed on me, pleading for a response, anything to let her know that I was okay and not completely broken from my small time as a P.O.W.

I glanced down at her hands and noticed that her normally manicured nails were short and stubby. "Your nails," I noted.

"I bite them when I'm nervous," she explained, her cheeks turning pink.

"I'm fine, Kat, really," I said again, squeezing her hand in response. "He...he had self-control, at least. He likes blackmail, though," I added in a whisper.

"What kind of blackmail?" Her eyes widened again and she leaned forward, asking for more information. I didn't really want to talk about it. As a matter of fact, I just wanted to throw myself into my work and forget about Loki. But Kat refused to drop the issue.

"Was it your sister?" she whispered, glancing around the command center. I kept my passive face on and stared past her, at a set of guns resting against the wall. "Oh..."

"Is it the easy to see?" I groaned with disbelief, rolling my eyes to the ceiling. "Kat, I...I've always been so good at hiding my emotions. No one ever knew what I was thinking, and then this...demi-god shows up, and suddenly he can read everything on my face. That's how...how he got me so easily," I said on an exhale.

_Hang on. _"Wait. How did you know about my sister?" I demanded. "I never told you about her." She grinned crookedly at me, and I frowned in understanding. "Snooping," I assumed dryly.

"Well, all you have to do is have someone teach you how!" Kat responded cheerfully, leaning backwards in the chair. "You know what you should do? Talk to Agent Romanoff. She's an expert assassin. She probably has a better poker face than anyone I know," Kat suggested, a hopeful spark in her eyes.

_Have the Black Widow teach me how to fight doesn't sound like a bad idea_, I thought to myself, nodding at the suggestion.

Unfortunately, I learned from Coulson that Natasha was out with Captain Rogers attempting to apprehend Loki and bring him the ship. I'll be honest: when I learned that they intended to bring him back here, I became incredibly nervous and queasy. While they were gone I stayed glued to my computer, monitoring the ship's progress. They were almost to Germany.

_How is he going to get it? _I thought with confusion, trying to figure out his master plan. _That has to be well guarded. Using an eyeball...how?_

It was times like these when I was so glad that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have any mind-reading devices.


	21. loki's plan

**super long chapter. loki's back...**

* * *

The only consolation over Loki's arrival to the Helicarrier was that he was going to be imprisoned in a cage that no man can escape from. I wanted to add that Loki was a God, not a man, but I figured that kind of comment would be unappreciated by just about everybody.

I personally felt that bringing Loki here was a huge mistake. He's got a strong will, a twisted mind, a desire to rule, and a sharp wit that makes me want to throw myself into traffic. Bringing him here for questioning is going to be a waste of everyone's time. What they _need _to do, I surmised, was to attack the hidden base in West Virginia, subdue everyone in there, and take the Tesseract back into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands. If we have the Tesseract and Loki has no help, then he has no reason to stay here.

But of course, no one was going to listen to me. Even though I was an "agent" now (a term I still hadn't accepted yet), my opinion wasn't on the level of Agent Coulson's, or Agent Romanoff's. So like the technician I am at heart, I slouched in my chair and continued to update security protocols, talking to other technicians from time to time to make sure they were set in place. Maybe by doing that, I could slow down their work in West Virginia.

"Is he saying anything?" Fury's deep voice said quietly nearby. I glanced up from my computer again and saw that he was standing on the second level of the command center, his hands gripping the metal railing tightly. "Just get him here. We're low on time." His eyes swept the room and then he exited the room, still muttering into the mouthpiece.

I assumed he could only be talking about Loki. My assumptions were correct, because no more than 10 minutes later, an announcement was made over the PA system that Loki had been captured. Technicians burst into claps and whistles of victory. Even the guards let a few smiles of relief slip past their rigid expressions. Maria Hill, who stood at the head of the command center, gave a little speech applauding everyone for their hard work. I forced a smile for Kat, who was jumping excitedly.

"Do you want to go see the bastard?" Kat asked with a grin. "I think they just brought him on-board. I'd like to see him brought to his cell."

"I'd rather not," I mumbled.

Kat shrugged and left with two other technicians to watch as Loki was escorted on-board. I kept to my computer, waiting until the procession ended.

Half an hour later, the deed was done. Kat returned, her eyes blazing in victory, and she informed me that he had just been locked in his cell. At that, I stood up and excused myself from command to seek out Agent Romanoff.

I found her in Bruce Banner's lab. I had never been in there before; the room was long, with crisp white walls, the color of science. Three large computer monitors were set up over white counters. His lab was positioned over the hangar.

Dr. Banner was bent over a white tabletop and removed his classes when I stepped in, and he smiled a little. "Hello, Elle."

"Dr. Banner." My eyes slid to the woman standing in front of the tabletop. From what I could see, she was very curvy with curly red hair, wearing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s uniform. At my voice, she turned to face me. She was very beautiful, with inquisitive hazel eyes, a perfectly shaped mouth, and sharp facial features. I was stunned into silence by her beauty.

"Yes?" she asked softly, arching an eyebrow while I stood there like an idiot.

"I've had plenty of lesbians check me out before. It's fine," Natasha Romanoff said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

I opened and closed my mouth in embarrassment. "I'm not a lesbian."

There was awkward silence in the room. Dr. Banner took off his glasses and glanced between us, looking uncomfortable.

"How about we try again?" Natasha cleared her throat and stuck out her hand. "Natasha Romanoff. I'm usually good at noticing things about people...I guess there's a first time for everything."

I smiled shyly, appreciating her decision to move past the awkwardness and shook it. "Elle Pedagia. Um..." I looked past her and realized that Banner was working on a familiar item: Loki's scepter. It was just another reminder that Loki was here, on this very ship, and I glanced at Banner with alarm. "Where did you get this? Did he give it to you?"

"Sort of," Natasha said smugly, crossing her arms. "I more or less snatched it from his hands."

I reached out and touched the smooth base of the scepter. It was cold to the touch. "Congrats on that, by the way."

"We had some help," she admitted, chewing on his lip with bitterness. "Another Demi-God."

"Another? Do they all just invade Earth when they like?" I stammered, glancing between the two of them.

"Thor, God of Thunder, son of Odin, of Asgard," Natasha explained coolly. "Also known as Loki's older brother. He's on our side, don't worry. I made sure of that."

"So he does have family," I said quietly with surprise. "No wonder..."

"No wonder what?" Dr. Banner asked curiously, setting his glasses on the table.

"Well, he mentioned something about how he used to have a family," I mused. "But that's not what I came here. Um..." I turned to Agent Romanoff. "I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Could you teach me how to fight?"

A smiled pulled at Romanoff's ruby red lips. "Why is that, Agent Pedagia? Hasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. trained you enough?"

"I'm a technician at heart, Miss Romanoff," I explained, playing with my belt nervously. "I didn't ask to be promoted to Agent. All I know how to do is...fight viruses and worms." I felt my face warm, but I continued to speak through my embarrassment. "While I was in Loki's custody, I had so many opportunities to escape but I couldn't because I couldn't fight. I don't even know how to throw a punch or use a gun. Sullivan was just a fluke."

"I doubt that," Banner said softly, disapproval in his eyes. "You clearly knew what you were doing. I've seen all the files on this case, and that was a clean shot."

"Files?"

"Dozens of them," Natasha interjected, arching an eyebrow. "Yours is in there as well."

_Fantastic, _I thought grimly. "I was taught rudimentary gun use," I offered.

"If this place had proper training rooms, I could teach you how to be an expert assassin," Romanoff said wistfully. "No matter. We can practice some basic hand-to-hand..." she trailed off, looking at my arm. "Or not."

"It's only bruised," I said hastily, glaring at Dr. Banner. He smiled at me, clearly not ashamed.

"That was a tight grip, only precautionary measures," he murmured, getting back to his work.

"I'm sure Pedagia will be able to handle it, Bruce," Natasha said with a scoff. "She dealt with that thing, she can deal with a little bruise."

* * *

Later that night, I retired to one of the living units on board. I was exhausted from training with Natasha, but by the time I left, I knew how to make a man fall to his knees.

After turning off the lights, I curled up into a ball on the small, hard mattress. I felt so uncomfortable without my mint green comforter with me, or my picture of Megan. This room would hopefully be a temporary living space. Without my comforter, I wasn't able to get any real sleep. I tossed and turned all night, feeling restless.

A few hours later, I became frustrated with my body's inability to shut down and recuperate. For the first time in a long time, I was able to get some real sleep. Then why wasn't I sleeping?

I sat up in the darkness and stared at nothing, feeling a profound uneasiness settle over me. My eyes swept over the room, wondering if he was in the room with me.

The soft blue glow from my watch told me that it was 4 in the morning. If anything, I had four more precious hours of sleep left. But instead, I rolled out of bed and groped for the door in the darkness.

The hallways were quiet and empty when I poked my head out, but the cool air helped to clear my mind. I decided to take a quick walk.

During my excursion, I passed the command center. Whispered murmurs told me that nothing major had happened during my restless few hours of sleep. Outside, the window displayed wispy clouds and darkness.

Halfway through my journey, I realized that my feet were taking me down into the deeper parts of the Helicarrier. And in these deeper parts, you found yourself in the detention level. An unfamiliar tug prodded me to continue.

A small smile touched my lips as I hopped down a set of stairs. I almost felt like a spy as I snuck around the ship, searching.

My steps slowed as I approached a glass door that held Loki's cell. From what I could see, the cell was a large cylinder. I looked down at the card reader next to the door.

_Mission over, _I thought, pursing my lips. _There was no possible reason why I would be given access to this room of all rooms._ But I couldn't resist. I slid my I.D. card through the slot. To my surprise, the light beeped green with confirmation, and the door slid open.

_Why would I be given anytime access? _I thought with bewilderment, climbing a set of stairs. _That makes no sense. _

The cylinder was larger than I expected, big enough for a car to fit in. The cell was covered with bolts and locks, and illuminated by soft green light.

Next to the cell was a long control panel, covered with buttons and controls I couldn't figure out. My eyes fell to two labelled buttons, one covered by a black panel, and the other a large red button, labeled "panel" and "deploy", respectively.

My eyes searched for the connection between the two buttons. Then I noticed a large hatch beneath the cell.

Ah. It's a threat.

Finally, I raised my eyes to look at the man who had turned my life upside down. Loki was slumped over a long, beige bench, his left arm dangling off the side.

He looked like an innocent child. Like someone who wasn't bent on destroying the world and everyone in it. Asleep, his entire body was relaxed, something that I found surprising considering that he was in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands.

I shoved the sympathetic feelings out of my mind, and slammed my hand on the "panel" button.

Our reactions were instantaneous and mirrored; he sat up with alarm and looked around wildly, waiting for the cell to drop. I stepped backwards with surprise when the hatched opened beneath the cell, revealing wispy clouds and the night sky. The sound of rushing wind filled the room.

I fixed a glare on my face immediately when his eyes slowly settled on me, and then he began to relax. Loki shifted towards the edge of the bench, clasping his hands in front of me while the panel closed. I crossed my arms defensively, waiting for him to speak.

He stared at me from underneath dark eyelashes. "Elliot," he greeted me in a low voice.

"Loki," I responded coldly. "Enjoying your prison? Or would you like a hot meal?"

He barked with laughter, "No, thank you. No, I've had enough of your disgusting nutrition."

"I'm surprised we fed you at all."

"On Asgard, we are fed like kings," Loki said wistfully, tilting his head towards the ceiling.

"Well, you're under our jurisdiction now, so you should eat what's given to you," I suggested rudely.

"How did you escape?" he murmured, changing the subject. "I'm genuinely impressed."

_Please, _I thought with disbelief. "How? You mean, after you let your guards roam around, left me unchained in a chair, and opened the door for me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I nearly crushed a man's windpipe when I noticed you had left us," Loki answered, widening his eyes innocently. I saw right through his deception. He knew that I saw through it, because he flashed me a knowing smile.

Loki took the time to look around the cell. He tapped on the glass with his knuckles. "Strong glass."

"You're a huge threat. Did you expect a tiny cell?"

"I would have expected one, although I find this prison quite acceptable. It is very roomy." He stood up slowly and twirled around for emphasis. My eyes followed his green cape until it settled gently behind him.

"Glad to see you're satisfied," I managed, my cheeks warming when I realized he had been watching me. He stood relaxed and easy, still smiling at me in a way that caught me off guard.

"What have you come here for, Elliot?" Loki asked curiously, tilting his head like a curious cat while towards the edge of the room. "It is such a late hour for one so young. No..." he stopped in his advance, smiling with disbelief. "Have you come to see me?"

"I've come to rub in the fact that you're in there and I'm out here," I responded without hesitance. "And you'll remain in there until we find the Tesseract, and then you and your famous brother can fly back home." At the mention of Thor, Loki became tense, averting his eyes. I flashed him a smile in return, knowing I hit him where it hurts. "It must be sad to be second best," I added gently, playing with the buttons on the control panel.

"Don't play games with me, mortal!" he growled, clenching his fists. Relaxing quickly, an inquisitive look came into his eye. "However, I must say that...you and I are quite alike."

"I find that very, _very _hard to believe!" I exclaimed, surprised that he had the audacity to say that.

"We both are second best to our siblings," he stated, watching me intently. I smiled again, just to irk him.

"I'm not second best to Katie. I'm _the _best." I pointed to my chest for emphasis. "I'm the one who studied computers. I earn more money."

"But, unlike your sister, you bore no children. On your world, you value children above anything. Have you ever even felt a man's touch?" he said very softly, his eyes gleaming in the light.

I lowered my eyes. "That's none of your business," I whispered with embarrassment. "Whatever happens, at least I'm free of you now." I kept my eyes on the panel, staring at the buttons again. If I sent him to Earth, how much trouble would I be in? The idea was tempting.

"Will you be, though?" Loki's voice rasped. "Will you really be able to live a life free of me, once this is over?"

"You think that you're going to haunt my dreams?" I laughed once, tracing the buttons. "Not likely."

"Look at me, Elliot," he demanded softly. "I would appreciate it if you did."

"You don't own me," I retorted childishly, refusing to listen. "All you ever do is order people around."

"You're used to it, are you not?"

That stung. Loki spoke the words simply, curiously, as if he were stating that the sun rises. I raised my eyes then, chewing on my lip as the idea of sending him flying appealed to me further.

"Play coy as much as you like, Elliot," the Asgardian said, raising his hands in surrender.

"You make it sound like we're on the same side, but we're not. I do not associate with you. You do not associate me. You're evil. I'm S.H.I.E.L.D. You're the ant. I'm the boot," I added, quoting him earlier. "You are made to be stepped on."

"Like you mortals are made to be ruled, and I intend to do so with or without your permission," he contradicted, stepping towards the glass. He rested one armor-clad arm above his hand on the glass, casting a shadow across his eyes. "And you have helped me."

"I've done no such thing. S.H.I.E.L.D. apprehended you in Germany because I warned them you'd be doing something stupid." I licked my lips nervously, wondering if the cameras were listening...

All the while, green eyes bore into mine and a cruel smile played on his lips. "Come closer, little one. I want to watch you."

"No," I responded coldly. "You're right. It is late, and I have things to do." But even as I spoke, an unfamiliar sensation filled me, tugging me towards the glass. I took unwillingly steps forward, trying to identify the sensation.

"Is this you?" I whispered in realization, widening my eyes. A playful smile tugged at his lips, and I knew I was right. My feet stopped moving when there was no more room for me to move.

"Watch what?" I said then, remembering he had said something about watching me.

_Your face, when I tell you that you have ordered your own demise. You assume that Eric casually asked you about the schematics of this ship?_

I stood still when I realized I heard his voice in my mind.

_ No, _his voice purred. _This has all been planned, Elliot. With your help, Agent Barton is on his way with knowledge of every crevice on this ship. _

I should have known. Selvig didn't even know about the ship. It was Loki, who prompted him to ask about it. Selvig reported to Barton.

Barton was on his way. And with an army.

_Like a lost and dazed animal, exposed for the hunter to see, _he sighed sadly in my mind. _You have three days, Elliot. _

I stared hopelessly into pools of emerald green that watched me attentively as he spoke. _In that I have given you all you need to save your friends. It is simply up to you to make a choice. _

All the fury and frustration of the past few weeks bubbled up and boiled over. "_I hate you_," I said through my teeth. "I hate you. I despise you. I despise your very being, I despise that you even are allowed to _breathe_! Of all people chosen to survive, why _you_?" I exclaimed with vexation.

Loki stood motionless before me, the darkness of the shadow he cast with his arm causing his eyes to gleam brighter. _Three days. I will not try to ruin you, but I cannot make any promises._


	22. steve pays a visit

I kept to my room the next day, bent over my computer, trying to compose an e-mail to Katie and failing. My hands shook each time I tried to type and I nearly threw my computer to the wall out of pure anxiety. I stared at my computer screen. The words _Dear Katie, _were the only words I'd written. I chewed on my lip, feeling frustrated with my inability to focus. My thoughts were running all over the place and there was nothing I could do to stop them.

_Three days, _I thought bleakly, dropping my hands into my lap. _Three days until this ship is sabotaged, and I can't do a thing about it. If I tell them anything, I implicate myself in the whole situation. Why did I have to listen to him?  
_

I exhaled loudly and closed out the mail application, knowing that I wasn't going to finish it. I never do. After three years, I still can't finish the email. When the application closed, I stared at my reflection in the computer screen, past the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. All I saw was a woman with tired blue eyes, a worn face, and messy hair. Frowning, I reached up and tried to smooth my hair down, noticing that it was sticking up at awkward angles.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at myself in the computer screen again. "He knows I'm not going to," I said aloud, staring at the gray wall, mentally panicking "He knows I'm not."

"Not going to what?" Captain Roger's quiet voice said behind me. I spun around quickly in my chair, my pulse escalating when I realized that he had been standing there for at least a minute or two. I forced a smile and licked my lips, trying to come up with a lame excuse.

"My sister's husband...he keeps trying to convince me to go to this...country club with them," I lied lamely. I looked at Roger's uniform with a surprised grin. He wore a blue suit probably made out of spandex, emblazoned with a silver star on his chest, red gloves, red and black boots, and five or six red and white strips across his midriff. It wasn't nearly as dumb as the horny helmet.

"Country club?" he repeated with confusion, his eyebrows coming together. "What is that?"

"Did they not have country clubs in the 1940s?" I teased playfully. "It's like a...a club for rich people to drink fancy drinks and swim and talk about their money." My parents invited me out with them once or twice during my high school years but I was an anti-social computer programmer back then. I still am.

"Oh." Glancing around, his eyes asked for an invitation and I nodded. "These rooms are really small."

"Yeah." I tapped my fingers on my legs anxiously, waiting for him to speak. Rogers adjusted himself awkwardly and took a step in, asking for an invitation.

"Um...I was sent on behalf of Directory Fury." Carefully, he sat down on the edge of my bed. "I don't exactly know why he asked me to talk to you."

"Probably because he hates me and doesn't want to do it himself," I said with a shrug of acceptance.

"I don't think that's it, Miss Pedagia," Rogers said seriously, clasping his hands together. "But he does want me to ask you a question that we think might help us understand everything that's going on." I watched as he shifted closer towards me, his eyes downcast.

"What's that?" I asked, racking my brain to find the question myself. Rogers looked down for a minute and his hands, and then raised his eyes to mine, apologetic.

"Have you been compromised?"

I kept completely still, struggling with every muscle in my body to keep my face as calm and composed as possible to keep from giving away my disbelief. Unlike Loki, Rogers waited for my response patiently instead of attempting to find the answer himself.

"Why does he ask that?" I asked, barely managing to control the trembling in my voice.

"Because there was some video footage from late last night that...raises suspicion." Roger again looked down, feeling embarrassed. I almost felt sorry for him myself. "I don't really...have to remind you, do I?"

"No," I agreed, lowering my eyes. "Not really."

"Miss Pedagia, I'm not...trying to be rude," Captain Rogers said, inching closer towards me on the edge of the bed like a shy teenager. "But I think you're hiding something from us. I mean, I think you're as important as the President but there's something that gets us all scratching our heads: why is a computer expert worried about someone like him?"

"As important as the President?" I repeated, a grin tugging at the corner of my lips. "Thanks."

"You still haven't answered my question," Rogers interjected, frowning at me now.

"Well, do you even know the entire story?" I asked a little sharper than I intended.

"Of course I do. Mr. Coulson was kind enough to fill me in on the situation, and your name kept coming up, so..." he trailed off obviously.

I chewed on my lip, deliberating. The sudden presence of warmth on my hand startled me and I looked up to see Steve's blue eyes pleading with mine. I barely knew the man, but I felt my heart break into two. His hand curled around mine and squeezed gently.

_What are you up to? _I thought warily.

"Please, Elle," he said softly, squeezing my hand again. "Whatever it is, we'll protect you. You're not in any trouble."

_Oh, I could just tell them everything right now, _I thought sadly. _If I could. _

Instead I chose to take the route that might solve at least one of my situations. "I...I have a sister, Captain-"

"Steve," he interrupted me immediately.

"Steve," I repeated nervously. "I have a sister and she's married and has a daughter named Megan. She's my niece and...and I never see her." I took a deep breath. "Loki has Agent Barton following their every move and he promises to have snipers kill them if I..."

"If you what?"

I exhaled again, looking away from him. "If I revealed anything he planned to do. I knew that he was going to Stuttgart, Steve, but I was worried that if I revealed it and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived early, he would have them killed in an instant."

"I'm so sorry," Steve said seriously, sounding as if they had already been killed. "It's not easy. I know firsthand." It occurred to me that the 20-something man sitting beside me was actually at least 70 years old, if not older.

"You have to understand, Steve, I never met to hurt anyone or sabotage S.H.I.E.L.D., but when the life of your only sister is threatened, and..." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "She doesn't even know what I do or where I am..."

"It's okay," Steve murmured again, squeezing my hand. "I understand, Elle. Relax."

I almost felt better, like a weight was nearly lifted off of my chest. Nearly. I still had the knowledge that in understand 36 hours, Agent Barton was going to lead an army and storm the Helicarrier.

"Elle, is there anything else you can tell us about his plans? Anything at _all_," he clarified, his eyes becoming serious again. "Don't hide anything. We're flying blind here, and you're our intelligence."

As I watched Steve's eyes plead with mine, I weighed the pros and cons.

Pros: weight is off my chest, we all survive the attack.

Cons: I'm labelled a traitor to S.H.I.E.L.D., more than likely killed or sentenced to life in prison. Never see my family again. Probably brain-washed, or worse.

I decided to be selfish. Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D. had handled worse, right?

"My visit to Loki was to rub it in his face," I whispered hoarsely. "I don't know anything else."

_Congrats, Elle. You just put the fate of thousands of people in your hands. _I silenced the voice in the back of my mind that told me I made a huge mistake.

Steve was silent. I watched as he contemplated my words, wondering if I was lying or not. After a few moments, his face softened.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all this." He lowered his head, looking defeated. "I didn't want any of this."

I mulled over his words for a moment. "You sound like this is all your fault. It's not."

"It is," he murmured brokenly, sliding his hands from mine. "I should have grabbed the Tesseract from Schmidt while I had the chance. I was too focused on stopping him for blowing up the entire Eastern seaboard."

"Well, at the time, I'm sure it was more important to save the Eastern seaboard than a little blue cube," I assured him. "I mean, you didn't know how important it was." I offered him a smile when he glanced up at me, still doubtful. "Seriously. Um...I really think you're not at fault here."

"Thanks," Rogers snorted, leaning backwards and crossing his arms. He sighed forlornly, sounding wistful. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that moment. Putting her down...and..." he shook his head, smiling grimly. "At least I had company."

"Company?" I echoed curiously. I'd never heard Steve's story before. "What company?"

"Peggy," he said softly, his eyes glazing over at the mention of her name. "Peggy Carter."

"Was she your wife or something?" I asked shortly, not wanting to hear another sob story. I feel like I'll forever hate couples until I'm one of them.

"No," he laughed. "But I wish I had the chance to ask her. She's gone now. I...I looked her up. She passed away 10 years ago. We were supposed to go dancing at the end of it all..." his voice faded away, and he became silent. I slipped back into my shell, feeling embarrassed that I brought up a sore subject. We sat in silence for a few more moments.

"I'm sorry," I finally mumbled, looking down at my hands, particularly at my ring finger, which was devoid of a ring, and probably will be.

"What about you? Is there a lucky man waiting for you back home?" Steve inquired, sitting upright.

I blinked at him in surprise, feeling my cheeks warm again. "No...um...I'm a computer technician." Rogers looked at me expectantly, raising one eyebrow.

"What kind of excuse is that?"

_A standard one, _I thought obviously. I'm a computer nerd. People don't look at me. "Well, I don't really...I don't talk to people, I'm not noticed too much," I offered lamely.

"That isn't a excuse not to have companionship," he scolded me. "Listen, if there was anything I learned during that war, it's that...the promise of having someone waiting at home for you, at the end of it all, is the most promising reward you'll ever have." A grin tugged at his lips and he patted my leg. "Think about that."

* * *

_24 hours. _

I lied and said that I was sick with the stomach flu to give me an excuse to stay in my bed. During the day, Tony Stark's loud voice filled the hallway, and so did Steve's, and they were typically arguing like an old married couple. For all of the morning and most of the afternoon, I laid in bed listening to two voices inside my head. I didn't eat a bite. Dr. Banner offered to look me over to make sure that I wasn't actually sick, but I quickly declined before he figured out there was nothing wrong with me.

The two voices battled for hours inside my head. One voice told me to keep quiet and keep myself out of this mess. If we are attacked, just hope for the best. If all goes well, it will simply look like a surprise attack and we were the victor, crushing Loki's ego. The other voice told me to just give in and run to Fury now and spill everything. And beg for his forgiveness for hiding it. I was sure that he wouldn't take too kindly to me hiding it, but if I told him now, perhaps my punishment wouldn't be as severe.

I curled myself tighter into a ball and pressed my face further into the hard, cold pillow in the dark.

His words. His mind. They all worked together like a well oiled machine. Loki had managed to manipulate me into the worst position possible. Thor had warned me before I visited him that night that Loki was a cunning tricksters, as he's known as the God of Mischief on Asgard. I really should have listened to him.

Maybe if I hadn't gotten up and visited him that night, I wouldn't have known about Barton's plan. _Maybe, _I thought, _I brought this on myself._

As if my luck couldn't get any worse, another knock on my door sounded for the second time today. I quickly stood up and turned on the light, blinking to focus my vision. I stumbled towards the door and opened it quickly.

My visitor was Agent Coulson, and he had the oddest expression on his face. "He wants to see you."


	23. thor and loki

"What?" I repeated stupidly. Coulson pressed his lips together in a thin line and repeated himself.

"He wants to see you."

"Why?"

"How should I know? The only thing that I do know is that he keeps asking about you for reasons that, well, no one understands."

I felt my face warm under his disappointed gaze, and then he strode off in the opposite direction down the hallway, talking into his microphone. I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, feeling completely embarrassed.

"It's like every second he keeps giving them reasons to implicate me!" I muttered, grabbing my jacket. I zipped it too hastily, and the zipper snagged on the skin of my neck.

My neck was burning, as well as my legs, but I marched quickly to the detention center. During my walk, I passed Dr. Banner's lab. My steps slowed as I watched Dr. Banner talk with Tony Stark, looking animated and engaged in whatever they were talking about.

_I hope this works, _I thought nervously, unable to imagine the guilt I would have to deal with if Dr. Banner was killed in the impending attack.

Loki was standing in the center of his cell, looking patient when I arrived. I swiped my I.D. through the card reader and it beeped with verification. Climbing the small set of stairs, I reflected on the fact that I was now given access to this room. You'd think that Fury, Hill, or Coulson would be the only ones with anytime access. If I was able to access his prison at 3 a.m., what does that mean?

"Haven't you done enough?" I barked as I approached the glass. "What do you want? I was busy."

Loki crossed his hands in front of him. "Sleeping is busy?" he inquired. "But I digress. I merely wanted to see how things were going."

"What things?"

"_Things, _Elliot," he repeated for emphasis. "You. Your emotions. How fares the search for the Tesseract?"

"You don't give two shits about me," I drawled, rolling my eyes. "You've ruined everything, you know. Everyone knows I've been compromised and now I look like an incompetent child! I was so much...happier before you arrived."

Which wasn't entirely the truth, but why was I going to tell him?

"Oh, really?" the Asgardian replied, leering at me. "You spent your days reporting to people more important than you and being undermined, Elliot. I implore you, stop lying to yourself, and to me. We both know that since my arrival your life has become exciting."

I shook my head, unable to believe the words tumbling from his mouth. Exciting isn't the word. More like...nightmarish.

"It isn't entirely my fault. You shouldn't have revealed so much of yourself to me," Loki continued innocently, rolling his eyes. He feigned a look of understanding. "Well, goodness...I think that would make this...your fault, wouldn't it?"

"Your tongue is cunning," I murmured, looking away from him. "I revealed nothing to you. You snooped through my life and found all you needed to keep me trapped in your little game. But you're finished," I added, summoning my courage to step closer to the glass. Loki moved forward as well, a smile tugging at his lips.

"How fares it?" he inquired in a soft, gentle voice. "You have not even attempted-"

"Don't," I pleaded in a whisper, shaking my head. Loki pursed his lips, deliberating.

Then, to my relief, he changed the subject. "Do you have a plan?" he inquired, tilting his head like a curious cat.

"Yes, and it involves sending you to the deepest depths of hell. Do Asgardians even believe in hell?" I asked him, realizing that I know nothing about their culture.

He ignored my question. You_ intend to sacrifice the lives of your friends only to keep your name clear and innocent? _his voice whispered in my mind, sounding interested.

I chewed on my tongue, a habit I picked up when I was young, and I always did it when I was thinking hard or confused. If there's only one thing I can't understand, is why he discusses this in private. For a God of Mischief, he certainly is stupid if he hasn't realized that he could have blown everything for me by speaking about it. Instead he keeps quiet. Why?

_He's up to something, _I thought, looking at his expressionless face. Abruptly, it changed and his emerald eyes narrowed. "You," he muttered, turning his eyes away.

"She's had quiet enough of your childish schemes," Thor's deep voice said quietly behind me. I listened to his powerful footsteps as he strode across the pathway, approaching the glass. I kept quiet as he strode past me towards the glass. I couldn't help but admire his powerful figure. "If you have come to play word games with her, she's had enough." He crossed his muscular arms, narrowing his eyes at his brother.

"And who are you, _Odinson_, to tell me what to do? And with a mere mortal?" his brother spat in retort, narrowing his eyes into slits.

"You do not understand," Thor said quietly, running his hands through his shoulder length golden hair with frustration. "Mortals are more complex and more brilliant than you will ever know." At that, he turned to face me, his face serious. "Elliot, Daughter of Midgard. Your presence is requested in the room with...erm...the great screens."

I smiled with sympathy. "You mean the command center."

Thor raised one eyebrow, and then a bashful smile spread across his face. "I...I, yes." The smile suddenly turned into a teasing one. "Is Elliot not the name for a man?"

I pursed my lips, fighting a smile. "That's not nice." I could see out of the corner of his eye that Loki was getting more aggravated by the minute; his lips twitched and I could see the clenching of his hands. _So that was the key. _Loki's hatred for his brother; his older brother, the perfect son, the warrior.

"Is it not?" Thor persisted, walking towards me. I smiled nervously, tapping my hands on the console, not meeting his eyes.

"Perhaps. My mother and father were very...unique in the way they named me. They chose not to name me something as simple as Jessica," I shrugged casually, glancing up at him. A wide grin split his face.

"I was merely jesting."

I blinked. "I knew that."

"Elliot is a lovely and unique name," Thor said sincerely, his grin softening to a friendly smile. I couldn't help but smile back. Underneath all that bulk and muscle was a big teddy bear.

The beginnings of a feral snarl reached my ears, accompanied by thunderous footsteps. "I am _not _to be ignored!" Loki shouted without warning, banging his hands on the glass. Thor turned to see Loki flush against the wall, his eyes distressed. "You speak of me as if I do not exist! You speak and chatter with her like you do the ladies at court! She is a worthless mortal!"

Thor glanced at me once, his eyes that held a playful sparkle becoming dull. He turned slowly to face his brother. "My apologies."

Loki's words didn't even remotely offend me, but I figured that I was supposed to leave the room. Glancing between Loki and Thor, I noticed the expressions on their face and noted that they shared one similar emotion, one more visible than the other: hurt.

* * *

Through the night, and the next morning, Loki's voice floated around my head.

_You intend to sacrifice the lives of your friends only to keep your name clear and innocent?_

My reasons for keeping silent were entirely selfish. I'd rather see everyone die and suffer than admit that I had something to with these schemes? Doesn't that sound like a horrible human being?

I thought so too.

It wouldn't be long until Agent Barton would arrive and take down the ship with no resistance, because no one was expecting it. He knew all the corners of the ship that he could attack to take it down quickly, which parts were weaker. I already knew myself because I studied the schematics of the ship by accident.

On the day of reckoning, I paced restlessly down the corridors, my stomach bubbling to the point where I wanted to throw up. I chewed on my fingernails, examining my options. It was to the point where they could literally arrive at any second. Loki never said exactly when they were coming. They could be outside of the ship right now.

"No, no, no..." I whispered anxiously, pivoting on my heel and walking the way I came. I raised my head and smiled as normally as I could at two agents walking down the hallway, deep in conversation. Like everyone else on this ship, they were completely unaware of the impending situation. _It's funny, _I thought for a moment. _Here I am again, aware of the danger we're in, and no one else is._

My feet directed me to the detention level again, but I didn't protest. I stopped outside of the room and peered through the window. Loki was sitting on the bench, head bowed, smiling to himself like he was enjoying a private joke. _This will end every badly unless I say something. _

I decided to put the only plan that might work into action. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to the prison and strode inside. I made a show of gasping loudly, pressing my hands against the cold glass.

At that sound, he raised his head, and his dark eyebrows came together in confusion.

"That's your plan," I whispered loudly, hoping that my act wasn't too horrible for the camera.

"What?" he rasped, standing upright. Dramatically, I turned on my heel and fled out of the room through another exit, closer to the command center.

"Agent Coulson!" I called loudly, sprinting in the command center. A figure slid into view and gripped the tops of my arms tightly. I found myself staring at Kat's alarmed face.

"Miss Elle, you look positively pale!" she exclaimed. "What's the matter?" I avoided her searching eyes, looking past her at the black ship that had suddenly appeared in front of the window of the command center.


	24. ambushed

**thank you for the reviews! enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

"What the hell?" Kat screamed loudly, staring at the black ship. "What is that?"

Every person in the command center stood up to look at the visitor outside, drifting in the sky. Immediately, two technicians started demanding information about the aircraft.

"What's your clearance code?" Clarke, a fellow technician, demanded into his mic.

"Clarke..." I said slowly, widening my eyes as a small figure appeared on the ramp of the aircraft. "I don't think you're going to get any classification information." I tightened my arm on the railing surrounding the conference table nervously.

I squinted my eyes in time to watch a thin line fly through the air outside the window.

A few seconds later, the ship shook violently and Kat shrieked, falling forward, but I tightened my gaze on her forearm with a grunt, holding her up. The ship began to tilt dangerously towards the left and she tumbled back towards me unsteadily.

At that same moment, a blaring alarm went off and every person in the command center jumped into action, tapping their headsets and running around to figure out what damage had been done.

"We have a confirmed hit on engine three," someone was shouting frantically. "Engine three is in critical condition!"

"Are you okay?" I said immediately, holding Kat's arms tightly while she shook with fright, looking at the window. She nodded once and stood up.

"My head's swimmin'," she murmured, rubbing her forehead for emphasis. "But I'm okay."

"What happened?" Maria Hill's voice demanded with alarm from nearby. She strode into the command center, throwing on a headset. Behind me, soldiers rushed by, adjusting their uniforms and holstering guns.

I watched her type frantically on six computer screens. "Number three engine is down!"

Kat reached for her tablet, which was luckily intact, having fallen from the table. On the screen were readouts and images of the engine showing the external damage. I met her eyes and she looked like she was going to faint.

"That's a lot of damage," she breathed, swiping through more screens.

"We've got a fire on engine three," another voice confirmed. I turned around anxiously. _What can I do? This isn't computer related, we need engineers!_

"I'm going to help on the floor. Are you sure you're okay?" I asked her again.

"I'm fine, Miss Elle," she said firmly, nodding. "You go help."

I shoved past nearly 20 technicians and a group of armed guards to reach Hill. She was bent over Clarke's shoulder, looking anxious. "Maria, what can I do?" I shouted over the frantic yelling going on the first floor.

"You monitor those screens and if anything changes, you tell me, got it?" she ordered.

I nodded, glad of be of some help and took position at the front of the command center, staring at the red flashing images on the screen. I stared at the notifications, not knowing what to do.

_Wait a damn minute. I'm a computer technician. _

All I needed was the simple knowledge that I know a computer better than anyone, and then my hands were flying across the screen. I abandoned thoughts of Loki for the time being; I knew that there was guards around Loki's cell, and that Coulson was on his way to initiate a defense lockdown on the cell. He wasn't going anywhere.

In the corner of the screen, a green notification box flashed with the words 'Iron Man: Deployed.'

The sound of rushing wind caught my attention and I raised my eyes just in time to see a streak of red and gold outside. A few technicians nearby cheered with relief. The barest hint of a smile touched my lips. As long as Tony got the engine up and running, we could stay afloat and begin offensive procedures.

"The Green Man is awake, I repeat, the Green Man is awake!" Natasha's voice yelled fearfully in my ear.

_The Green Man? _My two seconds of relief ended quicker than I wanted to. Dr. Banner was no longer with us.

"Agent Romanoff, are you okay?" I said with alarm into the mic. She didn't respond. "Maria, what happened over in engine three?" I yelled, looking at more readouts.

"The Hulk happened," she said behind me, pushing me out of the way to access two computers. "The explosion..."

"Set him off like that?"

"It was a damn big explosion," she explained with a grim smile. "You're doing good, kay? Just keep me posted."

"Tony, how are the engines coming, we're taking a major dip!" I said into my headset, gripping the edge of the screens to keep myself from falling. I listened to the sound of whistling wind. "Tony?"

Loud gunshots in my ear made me jump, and Captain Roger's voice panted in my ear, "We've got a situation."

_Little shit, _I thought viciously, wishing I had the knowledge of shutting down their system entirely. _He literally brought an army. _I chewed on my tongue and checked the video feed. Loki was still in his cell, still smiling, still waiting. For Barton?

A reckless idea popped into my mind and I decided to go for it. If I deployed the cell now, Barton would never get to Loki, and he would never escape. I began to make for the stairs leading downstairs to take a shortcut around to the cell. I was barely a a few steps down the stairs when an explosion behind me took me completely off guard. The force propelled me forward and into one of the large rails surrounding the stairs. The blunt force of my head hitting metal was enough to knock me unconsciousness for a few minutes.

When I came to my senses, I smelled something burning above me and looked through dazed eyes to see a fire blocking my way back into the command center. Rapid gunshots and grunts above me indicated that hostiles had entered the perimeter. I scrambled backwards from the blaze, touching my body to make sure I wasn't hurt.

I touched my hands to my forehead and felt blood stain my fingertips. For a few minutes, I sat there on the stairs, trying to stop the burning in my lungs. The smoke from the fire wasn't helping.

I coughed furiously but managed to stand up and made my way down the stairs without falling. Whether or not Fury liked it, Loki had to go.

* * *

"And we walk...and we walk," I mumbled to myself, clutching a gray pipe along the wall. "And we walk." I kept my eyes focused on my destination, the end of the hallway, even though my vision spun and I began to see double. The severity of my head wound didn't quite hit me yet, even as I stumbled along the hallway, gripping the wall for support as I walked to the detention level. The hallways were relatively empty as mostly everyone was in the command center or fighting. I was glad that no one could see me walking.

My breathing was heavy and I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling dizzy. The sensation of something warm trickling down my cheek almost made me consider turning around and seeking medical help.

"PEDAGIA!" Fury's voice yelled in my ear, making me wince. "Do you copy! We need you in the command center, our database has been shut down by Agent Barton!"

I held on tightly to the wall and stood upright, adjusting my earpiece. "I copy, sir." Exhausted, I pressed my cheek to the cool wall to cool down. I could barely make out his voice over the blaring alarm.

"Where the hell are you?" he snapped. "You are not where you need to be!"

Quick thinking saved me. "I'm on my way to the supercomputer, sir," I panted, deciding that my plans had to be rearranged. "I can reboot the system from there if I have the passcode. Then I can bypass Barton's device."

"Something good from your mouth for once!" he growled. "Get your ass down there now and fix this!" He gave me the passcode.

"Understood, sir," I breathed, feeling dizzy again.

"And Pedagia," he yelled in my ear.

"Sir?" I panted, my chest hurting again. _What is wrong with me?_

"If you run in Agent Barton, I give you full permission to shoot and kill."

I swallowed quickly and steeled my nerves. "Yes, sir."

* * *

The supercomputer onboard the Helicarrier wasn't really something I was supposed to know about. But after reading the schematics, I knew just about everything. It was located far below the detention level. I was almost tempted to stop in Loki's cell and send him flying, but I had orders. I didn't like them, but I had them.

As I sank further down in the depths of the ship, it became quieter. Somewhere along the way we lost another engine, because the ship tilted dangerously, and I nearly lost my footing.

Contrary to the rest of the ship, the supercomputer was located in a pristine, white room. The processors were located in a separate room, separated by a wall with a large glass window. The computer itself was enormous, with a wide black keyboard, and a huge screen to match.

I pressed my hand to my head and stared at the blood that stained my fingers. After wiping my hand on my pants, I woke the computer.

"Reboot, reboot," I reminded myself, blinking to regain my focus on the machine in front of me. "Find the problem, reboot." Simple computer schematics. Even my grandparents knew how to reboot. I have a degree in computer science from MIT. I know how to reboot a computer.

The first step: find the virus that disabled the computers in the command center. Barton's device could at least disable the basic firewall, but to get to this monster, you needed a virus the size of China. I wasn't surprised when the supercomputer showed me a normal screen. Within seconds, I had located what I considered to be a relatively harmless virus attacking the system.

Step two: kill. The virus wasn't strong enough to stop me from running one of the stronger anti-virus programs I learned at S.H.I.E.L.D. I waited as the software did its job. On the screen in front of me, I watched as harmful files were deleted and firewalls restored.

Step three: reboot.

Well, that's as simple as pressing the power button down for three seconds. While I waited, I leaned on the keyboard, feeling dizzy again. The wait was excruciatingly long. More than anything, I wanted Dr. Banner's gentle hands attending to my head injury.

The large screen went black, and then the spinning S.H.I.E.L.D. logo appeared on the screen as the start-up procedure began. I exhaled with relief, hoping that soon the command center would be able to monitor Tony and Steve's progress, and hopefully track down Dr. Banner before he harmed somebody. Down below, I was unable to hear whatever fighting went on above. Everything around me was muted. The only sounds I could hear were the soft hums of the processors in the other room.

"Agent Pedagia, you were successful," Clarke's voice said in my ear, sounding relieved.

"How is everything upstairs?" I breathed, my shoulders drooping with ease.

"Hostiles have been taken down. We just need to get these engines back online. Can you get up here and help out? The fire has been extinguished."

"Great," I said honestly, doing a final look through to make sure Barton's virus was eradicated. Everything was completely clean and communications were back up.

Behind me, I heard the door slid open. Casually, I raised my eyes from the keyboard and watched as a tall, thin figure stepped into the room.

I inhaled in shock while adrenaline rushed through my veins. How did he escape? He was locked in that cell completely...unless Barton managed to get through our defenses and free him first. But how?

"According to the religion of your people, some say your world will end in fire," said the God of Mischief, fixating his eyes on me in the reflection of the screen.

I swallowed to lubricate my dry mouth. "I'm not religious."

"Then who do you pray to when your life is in danger?" he inquired softly, advancing towards me. I began scanning the room for anything that I might be able to use to defend myself, but there was nothing. The only option was to escape into the room with the processors. It was a stretch. For the moment, I reached for my gun, hoping I could fire useless bullets for a distraction.

"I wouldn't do that," Loki crooned, shaking his head in the reflection. "You'll only kill yourself. Those defense techniques? Useless. Perhaps they would work against a simple human. If you had informed her of your true adversary, perhaps she would have taught you more advanced moves," he suggested. "As a matter of fact...if you had informed someone about, well...any of this, perhaps you wouldn't have to listen to the sound of your friends being slaughtered."

The door, then was my only option. I glanced at it, judging the distance. Maybe I could lock myself in and hide.

As if he were reading my mind, I watched as Loki raised his scepter and fired. I winced, expecting a burst of pain, but there was nothing. When I opened my eyes, I saw what he'd done: destroyed the card reader, effectively trapping me in the room.

"And you have so many opportunities," he added with a heavy sigh.

"You had this planned out from the beginning," I countered. "You knew I was going to keep quiet."

"I am the God of Mischief," he offered in excuse. "Now come along, Elliot." He extended his arm in invitation.

"Along _where_?" I demanded.

"With me, of course."

"No, not again." I turned to face him then, and his nostrils flared at my refusal. "You can piss off."

Snarling at my denial, he drew the scepter back and I lunged towards the floor before the monitor exploded in a show of sparks and small flames that fell beside me. The area behind the monitor was my only place of solitude. Panicking, I crawled behind it and scrambled upright, pressing my back against it. My hands clamped around my mouth to mute my breathing. With my breathing silenced, I was able to clearly heard the sounds of Loki's boots mostly gently across the floor, getting closer. The tremors started in my hands and spread to the base of my spine until I was sure that he could hear me shaking in fright.

The footsteps stopped. Hesitantly, I looked around.

Standing in the shadow of the computer was Loki, his hands curling around his golden staff. He curled into an attack position, like a tiger ready to strike. The sphere in his scepter began to glow brightly in the darkness, and I began to retreat, being the only thing I could do. His emerald eyes held mine until he looked past me at something. Apprehensive, I followed his eyes. And I couldn't believe what I saw.

Loki stood before me, a mischievous grin on his face.

That made...two of them.

"Impossible," I whispered immediately, widening my eyes in disbelief. I stumbled as I turned around, looking at the other Loki, who crept towards me smile, a more menacing smile on his lips. Again, I turned to looked at his twin. He held something in his hand, something white that I couldn't discern.

A warmth against my back made me jerk forward, but strong arms suddenly wrapped around my midriff, holding me firmly in place. Something white flashed in the corner of my eye and then my mouth was covered by a thick, white cloth.

"Magic," the Loki in front of me whispered, suddenly without the cloth in hand. I held my breath, not knowing what substance was on it. "Oh, Elliot, your mortal lungs cannot hold out for much longer."

The burning feeling in my chest was enough of an indication that I was losing air. I turned away from him, closing my eyes, willing my lungs to hold as long as possible. Even though I've never been much of a fighter, more or less a follower, I did everything in my power to struggle from this Loki's fierce grip around my midriff. The hand holding the cloth secured itself around my upper arm, refusing to let me move an inch. I probably should have stayed still. The effort of moving around drained the last bit of my air, and with a large gulp, I inhaled.

The substance on the cloth smelled sweet, sickly sweet, like I'd stepped into a garden of flowers. My burning lungs gulped in as much air as possible, and within a few seconds, I began to feel woozy. Two more breaths later, I lost control of my muscles and I began to sag in Loki's arms. The Loki in front of me said something as he stood upright, but my hearing was distorted. My lungs greedily gulped in the tainted air for a few more seconds more before my legs gave out completely.


	25. loki's secret

The sounds of yelling and gunshots woke me up a little while later. I shifted a little, discovering that I was awake, and (thankfully), not dead.

The humming sound of engines beneath me indicated that I was on a plane. They sent gentle vibrations across my back, and I wiggled, beginning to assess my situation. I laid on a bench that was probably made of metal. I smoothed my fingertips over it, and I was proved right. I inhaled deeply, relieved to breathe clean air. Just thinking about the smell of chloroform created an very unnecessary ache in my left temple.

While I wiggled, I became aware of weight against my forehead, but it was very light, and soft. Considering that I whacked my head on a metal railing, I knew it was a bandage. He was kind enough to bandage my wounds?

No, I thought immediately. Someone else did that. He doesn't understand sentiment.

I began to listen to the sounds around me, and realized that they were coming out of a set of speakers. Why?

I exhaled tiredly, figuring that he was somewhere nearby. "You know, using that chloroform on me on top of having a head injury...it could have killed me." I kept my eyes closed.

"It was a minuscule dose, provided to by Agent Barton, who is unfortunately no longer in our company," said Loki, his voice thoughtful. "He has been taken into custody by your friends. I can no longer feel his mind. The miniature device installed in the device was disabled as well..pity."

"What device?" I asked curiously, keeping my eyes closed still.

"What you refer to as a...camera," he grunted. "You play a very convincing hostage, Elliot."

"Hostage?" I sat up then, and turned to look at him. He sat on a bench opposite me, his scepter resting next to him. Loki was bent over, staring at a small tablet. He was clearly fascinated by the device, because he kept turning it over in his hands, examining it. "What is that?"

Smiling, Loki turned the table to me, and I watched as a small hidden camera showed Director Fury, Maria, and other agents firing at the hostiles who had entered the command room. From the side, I watched as two guards struggled to keep me from thrashing around, trying to free myself. _I don't remember doing that. _

I winced, watching one of the larger guards hit me squarely on the back of the head, and then I buckled. Curiously, I felt for a lump in the back of my head, and found one. That makes sense.

I blew air out of my lips, feeling completely frustrated with myself. No doubt, Fury had seen that entire display. By now, he had to have known that I was completely associated with Loki. This situation just became ten times more complicated.

I took a moment to observe my surroundings ; we were in a plane that was clearly meant for skydivers. A container of parachutes and helmets were in a bin next to Loki's legs. Our destination was unknown.

"Why did you take me?" I demanded of him, the memory of his double coming back to me.

"Because I need your mind," he whispered, raising his head. "Your precious little mind, Elliot. Do you not know that you hold so much more information than you know?"

"What else do you possible need from me?" I truly didn't understand. What more did he want?

"All I need is to prompt you, and then the knowledge is _mine_." Loki set the table gingerly on the metal bench next to him, near his golden scepter. "A simple word, or thought."

I stood upright, glaring at the Asgardian. "You've done more than enough, Loki. I've had it with you, your tricks, and your lies. All I want is for you to leave me alone. I'd rather you just take the information now and drop me off in Mumbai."

Clearly, the idea pleased him to no end; with a smile, he picked up his scepter and aimed it at me. "I'd love nothing more to revoke my promise."

That damned scepter. My boldness disappeared as quickly as it came. I changed the topic before he actually acted on his promise. "What have you done? Where are the Avengers?"

"Your little group of monsters? Let's do a headcount," he offered, raising one hand. "Your sweet assassin lovers have been torn to shreds by the monster. As for the monster..." his lip curled. "Gone. Odinson has tumbled leagues to his death in a glass cage. Your Iron Man, snared by the devices that run your ship. The Captain? Shot."

"I don't believe a word of that. I know you lost." There's no way they could give up that easily without a fight.

"To that end I did not."

Half of me refused to believe him. They're all too powerful to simply be taken down with one surprise attack. But the other half reminded me that it was a surprise attack. No one was prepared.

No one was prepared, because I said nothing.

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but a crippling pain shot up my ankle and my left leg gave in. I gritted my teeth to stand the pain. "Damn grenade," I mumbled, hobbling back towards the bench. From the way I could barely walk on it, it must have been bruised after I fell from the explosion.

"You!" Loki barked, startling me. I looked over my shoulder and did a double take, noticing a guard in the corner who had probably been there the whole time. "Bring me healing items. You aren't finished yet," he added, looking in my direction. "I need you in perfect health. My device isn't finished."

The guard handed him a thick cloth bandage, and then he stood up, walking towards me. Furrowing his brow, he began to unwrap it.

"Give it to me," I snapped, wary of his presence. "I'll do it myself."

Loki stopped in his tracks and fixed me with a glare that made the words die off my tongue. "You will sit and be still." He sat down next to me and I immediately crawled backwards, knowing what he was going to do.

"No," I replied, shaking my head furiously. "You're going to break my ankle. You almost broke my arm, why would I let you touch me? My bruises haven't even healed!"

He finished unwrapping the bandage and turned towards me. "Come here," he growled, his eyes warning me to obey. My boldness resurfaced and I backed away from him further, because his scepter was on the other side of the cargo hold. There was nothing he could do. Unless he could throw himself across the hold in an instant.

"You are going to hurt me," I declared. "If you-" My words turned into a yelp but he leaned towards me and clamped one hand around my injured ankle, applying light pressure, and then I was forcibly yanked towards him until my backside met his right thigh.

"In Asgard, women are expected to listen and obey," he said softly, resting my ankle on his thigh. "You would never receive the attentions of even the ugliest bachelor for your stubbornness." Humiliated, I watched as he removed my boot and sock, and then dropped them on the floor without care.

"I'm not sure what you're doing, but sentiment isn't going to lessen my disgust for you," I said with a clenched jaw, trying to withstand the pain while he attempted to rotate it.

"On Asgard, even men were forced to learn healing ways," Loki muttered with irritation, ignoring me. "This is women's work. Unfortunately, Frigga insisted that we learn," he continued, ignoring me still as he began to slowly wrap the bandage around my ankle. "Stupid insistence. All of Asgard are full of fools and pot-bellied dimwits. _I _was born to be King! But no matter." A smile again curled at his lips. "Asgard will not have me, but Earth will." Remembering that I was there, he twisted his neck to look down at me. "Do you have any idea how much easier it would be on your knees, Elliot? It is your natural state?"

_He's every shade of insane, _I realized, searching his face for any sign of humanity. Then I recalled that he'd asked me a question and I shook my head, sputtering, "I have sensitive knee-caps." It was a dumb excuse. "And what is yours, then? Towering over us?" He didn't answer, completely focused in his task. "You do know that the people will try to kill you. We're not too fond of aliens. I mean...no one will listen to you. We're fighters."

"The bloodshed is enough evidence of that," he said with a dry chuckle, tightening the bandage a little. The throbbing in my ankle began to lessen, but I wasn't going to tell him.

"I mean, we fight back. We resist. When our government tries to impose rules and regulations that we don't like, we stand together, and we politely tell them to piss off. If it's not for the benefit of all, no one will agree to it. Sometimes," I added, thinking about the political campaigns and debates that got more ridiculous with each election year. "Humans don't just _kneel_. Your plan will fail because we won't listen. No scepter will do that."

His fingers stilled, and then he fully turned to look at me, blinking his eyes. "You, Elliot, are of the brave kind. Therefore, you will be the last to fall. But it will be such a sweet victory when you do. Do not shift so much, you must remain still," he added, completely devoid of emotion.

I began to realize that there was something seriously wrong with Loki. It was as if his mind was on autopilot. How could he even suggest that? Is there anyway to talk some sense into him.

"Loki, you're not going to win."

Temporarily, his passive mask slipped away, and underneath it emerged a terrified, vulnerable man. I watched as the transformation took place; his emerald eyes widened, and his lips parted, short gasps escaping from them. What happened?

"I can't let that happen." As quickly as the transformation began, it ended. Baring his teeth, he tightened his grip on my ankle. I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes shut to fight the pain, my heart racing from the sudden change in pressure.

"Your human bodies are so fragile," he exhaled with disappointment, easing his grip. "No matter, this is only the beginning. We will see where your loyalty falls."

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling of the hold, feeling exhausted. It seemed that no matter what I did or said, there was no possible way to get through to his mind, that there was no way we were going quietly. That we weren't going to just agree with him and drop to our knees in reverence of an alien from outer space. But it seemed that his mind was long gone. However, I couldn't forget that look of terror that flashed on his face when I told him that he was going to fail.

Countless possibilities came to mind, but the one that stood out the most made the most sense. If I was given a project by my boss that I couldn't mess up on, and someone told me that I was doomed to fail, how would I feel?

Completely and utterly terrified that my boss would reprimand me or fire me. Therefore, the idea that maybe Loki was working for someone came to mind. I opened my mouth to ask him about it, but he was mumbling to himself about Asgard, my presence completely forgotten.


	26. released

**here's a longer chapter! thank you for reviews, as always, and for your constructive criticism. i'm aware that for the most part, i'm sticking to the plot, so i can't add as many twists and turns as i'd like, but i'll try to sneak some in. enjoy!**

* * *

Gathering his scepter, he exited the cargo hold and slipped through an open door that I supposed led to the cockpit, his task finished. I laid on the bench for a while and eventually drifted off, but I didn't really sleep. I don't really like people watching me when I sleep because that when I'm at my most vulnerable.

My thoughts kept swirling around. I worried more about Dr. Banner than anyone. I didn't know anything more about him than his name, his research, and what he could turn into. Why was I so worried about him? Perhaps because he was the kindest to me.

Cold calculations and hard facts weren't going to help me now. I couldn't make any conjectures whatsoever. Right now, I was flying blind on pure instinct and feelings, which I wasn't good at. Since meeting Loki, that's all that I'd been doing: feeling things. Rage, heat, shame, fear, sadness, joy...

And another emotion I couldn't escape. The lingering feeling of Loki's slender hands on my ankle hadn't left me, and that unnerved me.

Feeling like something was about to happen, I sat upright, staring at the plane's hatch. My eyes scanned the room for parachutes, but there was nothing now. Not that I was looking forward to jumping thousands of feet out of a plane, and I'd surely be killed. But it was worth a try. Below me laid my discarded boot and sock; wearily, I put them on, trying to put as little pressure on my injured ankle as possible.

Next to him, the door opened, and it was Loki who strode through, irritation etched on his face. "Tell me what you know about the arc reactor."

"Pardon?" I twisted my neck to glance at him. "I don't know anything about that."

"It is the arc reactor that powers the building of Tony Stark," he clarified with a grunt. "The power source."

What more did he want from me? The lines of Loki's face tightened while he waited for an answer, but I wasn't going to give one. There wasn't anything on the arc reactor of any value on the disk.

"It's clean energy," I grumbled, laying back down on the bench. CNN and MSNBC wouldn't shut up about how amazing the technology was.

Next to me, he released a sigh of annoyance. "Elliot, I grow tired of your refusal to accept-"

"I said I don't know anything," I repeated firmly, sitting upright again. "I don't remember anything, and if I did, don't you think I'd tell you? You have that damned scepter in your hand, anyway."

His words held a slight tremor to them. "And I very, _very _prepared to use it." For the second time, he looked terror-stricken, his eyes darting around the cargo hold as if he knew someone was watching him. An idea came back to me.

Hypothesis: There's more to this than just Loki.

In science experiments, I learned that I had to test my hypothesis to prove it. I searched my mind for anything that I might've known about it. Carefully, I spoke, keeping my eyes on his face. "It can power a building for a year."

Visibly, relief flashed across his face, and his shoulders relaxed. "Perfect. Are you aware you've betrayed your friends yet again?" he questioned, his lip curling to the side.

I took no notice of his words, knowing he was trying to distract me. What he'd just done was nearly enough to prove my hypothesis. He was working for someone. And whoever that someone was, he was intimidating.

"Who're you working for?" I asked bluntly, watching him still.

He began to take slow steps backwards. "I work alone." Loki raised an eyebrow, clearly amused with my question. "Don't go anywhere."

_ As if I could._

* * *

I estimated that four more hours passed before the plane landed. The aircraft came to a surprisingly gentle stop on the ground. Where had we landed? _We could be in Europe, for all I know. _I stood upright, putting as little weight on my injured ankle as possible. At that same moment, the metal door opened ceremoniously, and Loki entered, flanked by two guards. One of them pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt, dangling them from his pointer finger tauntingly.

"Cuff her," murmured Loki. Without hesitation, the guard stepped behind me, clamping the silver cuffs around my wrists. None too gently, I was nudged down the ramp, and into the light. The brightness of the sun stung my eyelids and I recoiled, squinting my eyes. The moment I stepped into the sunlight, I began to sweat, beads of perspiration forming on my forehead. My uniform felt tighter than normal.

Once my vision cleared, and I glanced around. "Why are we in New York?"

I surmised that we were in Midtown Manhattan, judging by the skyline. The plane had landed on the top of a roof somewhere. I turned in the guard's arms, surveying the city before me. Tall, gray buildings filled the landscape, with roads crisscrossing in nearly every direction.

The answer to my question was right behind me. As I turned around again, I found myself staring at five letters that formed a familiar name: Stark.

_You're kidding. _

"How am I supposed to power a machine to bring Chitauri to Earth if it will only last two minutes?" inquired Loki, sliding into my line of vision. His emerald eyes stared intently at me, as if he were concentrating very hard at something.

"The what?" I repeated. With an air of flair, he motioned to something behind him.

Leaning past him, I saw what Dr. Eric Selvig had been working on for days.

In the middle of the device was the Tesseract, burning brighter than ever, held in suspended animation by two large, silver bolts. Below it seemed to be an electric field. Above the Tesseract was an intricately designed contraption that seemed to support a tunnel extending towards the sky, surrounded by silver, red, and yellow items, holding a circular ring in place. Above that ring was a larger silver ring supporting a golden orange, rotating device. Standing in front of it was Dr. Selvig, hunched over a computer which was plugged in at least 5 places from cords.

The sound of the aircraft taking off alerted him to our presence and he turned around, shielding his eyes from the breeze. I twisted my neck around uncomfortably to watch the plane until it became a dark spot in the horizon.

"Loki!" Selvig exclaimed. He shuffled across the gravel over to the Asgardian, who smiled at the man with fondness. "It's nearly done." Selvig wiped perspiration from his forehead and wiped it onto his stained plaid shirt. Since I'd seen him, he turned from the respectable astrophysicist I knew to a man suffering from the effects of Loki's magic; he'd lost weight, his blond hair was matted against his skin, and his face was covered in dirt. If I didn't know him, I would have thought he was homeless.

"You've done so well, my friend. Have you harnessed enough power?" Loki clapped his hand on Selvig's shoulder.

"Nearly enough, I just need a little more and it will be complete," the scientist said, pointing to the device. "The arc reactor will be just enough power."

Then Selvig turned to me, clearly pleased that I was there. He extended his hands, reaching for me, but I moved away as much as I could while restrained. I wrinkled my nose, the scent of sweat hitting my nostrils. What did Loki have him on?

Selvig drew back, hurt, but then he smiled anxiously, rubbing his hands.

"You should see what I've done," he tried hopefully. "It is miraculous."

"What is it?" I glanced at the device again, eyeing the Tesseract. For a moment, I glanced around Manhattan; how was no one noticing this?

It was Loki who answered. "What it is doesn't matter at the moment. What matters most is that my final part of the plan is completed." Suggestively, he raised the scepter to eye level.

_Again with the scepter? _My gut twisted, eyeing the gleaming curved tip.

"And what do I have to do with it?" I asked warily, shifting my feet in the gravel. "You got what you wanted." He has the power for the device - what else did he need? "All you really need to do is ask me and you know I'll do it."

With a wicked gleam in his eye, Loki smiled. "I'm not too sure about that anymore, Elliot. I think you're a liability. I can't just let you go running off through the streets on your own," he chastised, widening his eyes with innocence. "You are in my care." Instinctively, I leaned backwards from his towering frame.

Loki's lips quirked while he examined my face, clearly in the middle of some internal debate. The only sounds around me were my breathing and the humming from the device while I waited for Loki's decision.

"However...you are a trustworthy young woman...release her." My heart leapt at his words, and a smile threatened to break through my lips, until my brain kicked into action, reminding me of who I was dealing with. Loki spun away from me, turning his attention to the device.

"What?" Behind me, there was a click, and my hands dropped limply to my sides.

"I said you can go," Loki replied simply, twisting his head to look at me. "You can leave. Run to your precious S.H.I.E.L.D, back to their arms, little Elliot. Your job is done. Selvig, return to your work." His words were clipped, and Selvig hastily scurried back towards the computer.

I remained rooted to the spot. Frankly speaking, it wasn't possible. "You and I both know you're lying." My voice was stronger than it had ever been, because I knew I was right. "My job isn't finished. You still have something planned for me." Loki glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "We both know you wouldn't let me go without a fight. It doesn't make sense."

"I'm telling you to leave. As I have said, you are finished here, and I no longer wish to be in your presence. If you do not leave, I will make you."

I knew that this was another one of this tricks, just a ploy to make me think that I was free. Later, I knew he was going to try something underhanded. It was just in his nature.

"Your friends are on their way," continued Loki, his voice low. "Would you wish to be seen in my presence? Your darling captain, your iron man? No, of course not. So leave." His tone allowed no room for argument. Without another word, he returned to the device, stroking the metal of the device with his slim fingers like it was precious to him.

Chewing on my lip, I turned away, my eyes falling down to look through the glass windows of Tony's living room. "Why?" _If you're not up to your tricks, what are you up to?_

Loki didn't answer, and I curiously glanced over my shoulder, to see if he'd heard. He still stroked the metal of the device lovingly.

"Because when the Chitauri come, they will come for everyone, and you'd be the first to die if you were here." He chuckled quietly. "So run."

* * *

Stark's Tower was difficult to get out of, but after I'd gotten out of the building and onto the street, my mind registered that I was a tough situation. Loki allowed me to escape because he knew I would die first (supposedly). What was I going to do now?

Obviously, the first step was to get into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands and tell them of what he was trying to do.

I rubbed my sore wrists and limped down the streets of Manhattan nervously, ignoring stares of people interested in my uniform. My main mission was to get to a phone.

Around me, Manhattan was busy as always, people crossing the street, sitting outside at a cafe ordering a sandwich or a coffee, completely unaware of what was going on. Unless S.H.I.E.L.D. did something, and rather quickly, they would find themselves mixed up in all of this.

My efforts to find a phone took me into a local public library. I swallowed my embarrassment as I strode across the foyer, earning curious looks, until I reached the pay-phone that offered free calls.

For the second time, I dialed S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Hello, you've reached Rich's Record Shop, with all your record needs," a cheerful female voice said at the other. I exhaled, knowing this was standard. No one ever actually answered, "Hello, we kill aliens, how may we help you?"

"Access code 7342442," I murmured quietly. There was some rustling on the line.

"Agent Pedagia, is that you?" Helen's voice said sharply on the other line. "What the hell are you doing in New York? I thought you were dead!"

"Skip the theatrics, Helen, I need you to patch me to Fury."

"What the hell for?" she demanded, her voice rising in pitch. "I want you to tell me what happened right now!"

"There's no time!" I whispered urgently, looking around the crowded foyer. "Loki is on top of Stark Tower with the Tesseract _right now_."

She was silent for a long while, and then I realized she was patching me through.

"Agent Pedagia, I don't know what the _hell _is going on here, but I'm damn tired of it," Fury's voice barked. "Are you on our side, or his?"

"I have been, and always will be on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side, sir."


	27. jarvis

**you guys don't know how happy i am when i see reviews. thank you all for your kind words! i've suddenly had a surge of creativity, so I might update one more chapter today. ****enjoy the next few chapters. *wink wink***  


* * *

"So what exactly is going on?" Kat asked me, her voice burning with curiosity. "Miss Elle, why is he after you?"

"I don't know," I said under my breath, picking an unused tablet off the countertop. Raising my eyes, I glanced around the command center. The nervous vibes were easy to pick up on; agents and technicians paced around the room, constantly giving reports, discussing plans. Right now, the Helicarrier was struggling to get the engines repaired and communication back 100%. What I did was barely enough. "If I knew, I would tell you," I added, scrolling through schematics of the Helicarrier's engines.

"It doesn't make any sense, Miss Elle." Kat's normally sweet voice was very firm. "Why does Loki keep showin' up here?"

"Kat, I said I don't know," I said coldly, glaring at her. Since I'd returned to headquarters, all she'd done is pester me about Loki. I didn't want to talk about him. All I wanted was to get back to my computer.

Since I'd been gone, Kat had developed a cold exterior, which she had probably gained from being in the line of fire on the Helicarrier. When she met me at the doors, I noticed the stitches above her eyebrow, and the bandage around her upper arm from a gun wound she sustained. .

"What's happening up there?" Helen approached us from the left, carrying a tablet of her own. "Have you got readings on the Tesseract?"

"Yes, and it looks pretty high," I murmured, reading through the levels. "He said something about opening a portal."

"No wonder it's so high," Helen grunted, tapping hastily on the screen. "Stark's on the scene."

"What about the others? Did they survive?"

"Yes. We think. Banner's missing, though." Helen raised her eyes to me, speculative. "What are you doing here, anyway? You're an Agent. You should be out there trying to apprehend him."

"There's no stopping him now," I said through my teeth. "He's completely lost it, and something big's about to happen. It's dangerous up there. Tell them to be careful."

"What you should be doing is suiting up for whatever's about to happen." Helen handed my tablet to Kat, who took it with a satisfied smile, sliding her fingers deftly across the screen. "You're an agent, not a technician. And besides, you need to be debriefed."

"Again?" I muttered with exasperation, trying to keep my voice down so no one around me would become curious. "Why?"

"Because Helen said so." It was Kat who spoke, and she did so mockingly, which surprised me into silence. "So suit up, Agent Pedagia."

Helen flashed a knowing look at me, and left, barking at some technicians. I crossed my arms and peered at Kat, who continued to work on the tablet. "Are you mad at me?" I asked timidly.

"No." Her blue eyes narrowed immediately. "I'm not mad at you because you keep runnin' off with an alien, and you keep managin' to escape, actin' like a hero every time."

"I'm not running off with him." I kept my voice gentle. "Kat, he keeps picking on me. Why are you upset?"

"Because every time you get stolen off, I'm the one who gets to wonder if you're dead or not. And it don't make no sense." Kat raised an eyebrow. "You hidin' something, Miss Elle?"

"If I did, I'd tell you." It was a blatant lie to her face, and I think she knew it, but she chose to shrug her shoulders and walk away from me. This was a lie that was too dangerous to keep. I'd barely managed to convince Fury that I wasn't a traitor, and now Kat was suspicious. If anything came to light, Kat would be done with me, and Fury would probably have me killed. Since when did Kat not trust me? I'd only been gone for a day.

"We've got plainclothes agents monitoring the situation," Helen told me, after she'd finished verbally abusing the technicians. "But we're going to need you to stay on top of this." She handed me a headset. "They're on their way as we speak, and no one has a plan or any idea what's going on except for you." For a moment, I could see the suspicion in her eyes. "Stark's on the line, and he needs to know what to expect."

I put on the headset, turning away from her. "Tony?"

"Pedagia, speak. Now," panted Stark. The sounds of rushing wind in my ears indicated that he was flying. "What's going on, what am I doing?"

"He's got a device, and you need to blow it up before he activates it," I murmured, knowing that Helen was watching me. "Whatever it takes. He's trying to bring something here."

"You copy on that, Rogers?" Stark demanded.

"Copy, Stark." Steve was on the line as well and I closed my eyes, feeling humiliated. He must have known that I lied. "Thank you for your cooperation, Agent Pedagia."

Maybe I imagined the mocking tone in his voice. Feeling disappointed with myself, I handed Helen the headset.

"Go put on some plain clothes," barked my supervisor, who was obviously upset with me. "You practically caused this entire mess, and you're going to fix it. Once you've changed, report here, and you're going out on the street. I want reports every five minutes, or I'm pulling you out and handing you to Fury for your debriefing."

_The ultimate threat. _I nodded quickly and shuffled for the exit.

* * *

I was situated at a coffee shop called Think Coffee on Park Avenue less than thirty minutes later, dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt. To anyone on the street, I looked like a college student, reading a book and sipping a cup of coffee. No one could see that my hands were shaking as I lifted the cup to my lips for a tiny sip, or the wire placed on the inside of my hood.

I crossed my legs at least twice in the past 2 minutes, glancing around the street at the other residents, who chatted animatedly on cell-phones. _Blissful ignorance. _

"Report," Helen barked in my ear. Luckily, I sat at the furthest table outside of the shop, away from the majority of patrons.

"Nothing yet. Where's Stark?"

"Five minutes from destination."

_It's almost been a half hour, he could be done by now. _I took another sip of my latte, trying to stay calm. _The entire team is nearly there. _

_ Shit, but I still feel every shade of nervous. _What if they don't get there in time?

Even while I sat outside, keeping my eyes peeled for aliens, I also kept my eyes out for Loki. I was still entirely convinced that his decision to release me was all part of a trick. I'd seen the costume he wore when he was in Germany, to look like part of the crowd. If a tall, thin man with slicked back hair approached me, I could run, at least.

_Where are Megan and Katie? _I thought suddenly, tapping my feet on the sidewalk. _Please tell me they're at home. _It was a Wednesday afternoon; Megan should be in school. _Where does Katie work again?_

I pulled out my cell-phone, pursing my lips. Maybe I should call...

Above me, at the top of Stark Tower, a loud explosion resonated throughout the area, and patrons tilted their heads to find the source of the sound, confused. A few people poked their heads out of the shop door, and I stood up quickly, trying to see if anything had happened.

"Pedagia, that _thing _had a shield around it!" Stark sounded irritated. "There's no way we can get to it, and I think I just knocked Selvig out."

_Should've figured, _I thought with embarrassment. _It would be too easy. _

"Construction?" A businessman walked past me in a hurry, talking on his cell phone. "I don't know, they never put signs up!"

_It's worse than that,_ I thought wryly.

"Pedagia, you need to get into the tower, and shut that thing down," Stark said quietly in my ear. "He's using the Arc Reactor for power. It may not work, but if we shut the tower down, we shut the device down. Get me?"

It made sense. Hastily, I stood up and dropped my my cup into an empty trash bin. "Okay, yeah, I understand." _Back into the monster's lair. _"What do I have to do?"

Stark gave me the instructions to get me into the tower. "I'll come up with some distraction. He's gotta be a little bit stupid, right? Right."

His dry humor temporarily eased my nerves and I rolled up my sleeves, walking towards the building. By then, mostly everyone had forgotten about the minor explosion that came from the top of the tower, which was a relief.

_Get in, get out,_ I reminded myself, crossing the street quickly to the base of the tower. _Don't let him catch onto you. _I didn't have any idea how long of a time frame I had before his portal opened up.

It took a bit of haggling with the security guards to let me into the tower, promising that Stark gave me permission to enter. When that failed, I flashed my S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. It was more than enough.

_I don't see how two guards are outside the tower when Loki practically has it hostage, _I wondered, crossing across a small hallway to a tiny elevator. _Unless they were taken hostage, too. _Feeling uneasy, I looked over my shoulders at the two men again through the door. _I hope Stark knows about this. _

"Pedagia, report!" Helen barked again, sounding agitated. "Where are you? Video footage no longer has you at your post!"

"Stark has me going into the Tower to disable the arc reactor," I told her, pressing the elevator button to send me down.

"How did you manage to enter the Tower?" she exclaimed. "We have snipers all over that building!"

"You have snipers, why don't you just shoot him?" I asked, walking into the elevator when the doors slid open with a cheerful chime.

"Because we don't know what weapons he has with him. If we kill him, what if the device activates, and we have no idea how to stop it? You need to _think _about these things, Pedagia!" she chastised.

I pulled the earpiece of out of my ear with a grunt. _I'm so over being told what to do. _I'm sure that even if they just killed Loki, they would be able to evacuate the city in time. It's just pointless waiting to me. S.H.I.E.L.D. is endangering the entire city.

When the elevator came to a gentle stop, the doors slid open. I found myself staring into Tony Stark's workspace. It was more high-tech than anything I'd ever seen, even at S.H.I.E.L.D. Several cars were situated in the corner of the large room, which also contained counters were tools scattered on top. In the center of the room, was a large work station, with 4 computer screens situated around a chair.

"Access to this workspace is unauthorized," a male voice said from above. "You have five seconds to leave or else the proper authorized will be alerted."

"Pepper Potts," I spoke clearly, glancing around the room for the source of the voice. "Password's Pepper Potts." _It's really easy to remember. _

"Access granted." I relaxed, feeling calmer now that I wasn't going to be threatened anymore by a computer.

"I need you to shut down the arc reactor," I said meekly, stepping into the workspace. "Stark says it has to be shut down. What are you, anyway?"

"I am Jarvis, Mr. Stark's personal assistant," spoke the voice, sounding irritated. His voice seemed to come from all over the workspace. "And the arc reactor cannot be shut down."

"Aren't you just a computer? An A.I.?" I smiled a little, walking towards the computer station. "I work with computers." Even with the gravity of the situation, I felt cheeky, not anxious. "I can probably shut you down and take care of this myself."

"Elliot Pedagia," Jarvis spoke quickly, as if he were going through files. "25, from Rochester, New York, born in Evanston, Illinois, 1987. Occupation: S.H.I.E.L.D. technician. Sister: Katie Davenport-Pedagia; Parents: Jeffrey and Elaine Pedagia-"

"It doesn't matter that you can look me up," I said through my teeth, sitting down in the chair, waking up the monitors. "Either you do what I say, or I shut you down myself." It wouldn't be hard to do. "Aren't you aware that the power of your building is being cut in half?" After going through Stark's files, I stumbled upon some readouts. "Literally. This building is losing power."

To emphasize my words, the lights above me flickered.

"No." Jarvis spoke curtly, and I nearly laughed at his attitude. _This is exactly what I need right now. Some humor. _

"That's because Selvig did something," I murmured. "He's an astrophysicist, no wonder. Jarvis, I'm gonna need your help."

"Very well, Agent Pedagia." I pursed my lips, nodding with agreement. "First, Stark had commanded me to deploy Mark VII, but I have discovered that my protocols have been overridden. It must be done manually."

_Looks like I'll be stuck here for a while. _Nervous excitement built in my stomach; for the first time in a long time, I was back at a computer and away from the action, in a nice, air-conditioned room. The last thing I wanted to do was end up on the streets fighting aliens.

I smiled at the computer screen. "Alright, Jarvis, let's get cracking."


	28. out of time

Less than twenty minutes later, I'd managed to override Selvig's protocols. The Mark VII, I learned, was one of Tony's suits; I had it deployed after giving Jarvis full control of the building. Unfortunately, we both came to the realization that whatever Selvig had done, he made it completely impossible to shut down the building. If his device continued draining the building, the arc reactor would eventually give out.

"We tried, Jarvis," I grunted, collapsing in the chair. He didn't respond and it saddened me a little; I liked his company. Reluctantly, I put my earpiece back in and listened to Helen scream and rant about how the device on top of the tower was beginning to activate, and the mayor was considering calling for an evacuation of Manhattan.

"You failed?" she demanded. "How?"

"Selvig's got such tight-" I began, glancing at the monitor.

"You're the computer expert here!" Helen exclaimed with disbelief. "Do your job and fix this!"

"It's probably too late," I tried. "If that thing is already beginning to activate, there's nothing I can do! I'd have the mayor just start evacuating now while he has the time!" I stood up quickly. "Jarvis?" No response. Was it too late? The lights were still on. I chewed on my lip nervously, digging my phone from my pocket. This was probably the only time I had to call Katie. If this was really about to happen, I had to do everything in my power to make sure they were safe.

"Pedagia, I need you to get to the top of that tower and do whatever you can to-" I ripped the earpiece from my ear again and replaced it with the screen of my phone. With butterflies swimming in the pit of my stomach, I walked around the workspace, hoping she would answer.

_When was the last time I talked to her? Days? Weeks? _I wondered. Finally, the ringing stopped.

"Hello?" Katie answered, sounding irritated. "What do you want?"

"Where are you?" I asked her, staring at the elevator doors. I drew my gun and kept it in my hand, in case I needed to shoot. I hoped I wouldn't.

"Excuse me?"

"Where are you?" I repeated, my words clipped. "Tell me where you are, right now." _This isn't the time to be stubborn. Please don't be stubborn. _

"I'm at work like the rest of the world." I heard the sounds of voices and typing in the background. "You're interrupting me."

I paced around nervously, trying to remember where she worked. _Work is at the Collegiate School, _I remembered. _On West 78th. _That wasn't too far from here. I licked my lips nervously and said, "Katie, listen to me-"

"Elle, you're interrupting my day. I'm busy," she interrupted curtly. "We can talk later."

"Listen to me!" I shouted into the phone, coming to a stop near the cars. "All my life you've _never _listened to me, you always chastised me and yelled at me and ignored my opinions! For once, shut the hell up, and listen to _me_!"

Katie didn't answer me, and I wondered if she'd hung up. But when I heard her breathing gently on the other line, I dropped my shoulders with relief.

"What?" she whispered meekly. "What is it?" _Finally, she listens!_

"You're in _danger. _The entire city of - no, the entire world is in danger. You, and Megan and Russell have to leave the city. _Now_."

She sighed. "What are you talking about?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "You know that super secret job I have, Katie? That I can't tell anyone about ever? It's about that. Right now, I'm investigating something, something _huge. _And in the next five minutes, the entire city is going to be overrun with...terrorists." It was partially the truth. "There is an attack coming, and you need to leave."

"Ellie, are you serious?" Katie asked, sounding nervous. "Are you pulling a fast one on me?"

_Really? _"Why would I do that to you? Katie, I've never been so serious in my life, I..." I trailed off, feeling overwhelmed with the events that had occurred in the past few months. "I want you guys to be safe. Don't tell _anyone_."

"I can't leave my students, I have to call their parents-" she protested immediately, lowering her voice.

"Katie, you can't. My government organization is already on it, and the mayor is in the process of ordering an investigation. Your students will get out either way, but I want you guys to get a head start." There were a few seconds of silence on the phone, and in the silence, I took the time to listen to the sound of an explosion from above. I had to get outside and see what it was.

* * *

"Katie, are you still there?" I panted, rushing up the stairs, because I knew the elevator would take too long. "Katie!"

"What do I have to do?" she whispered in a rush, sounding absolutely terrified. "Ellie, there was an explosion, I just heard-"

"I know, I know." Even though my chest burned, I took the stairs two at a time. "That's them, that's it. Where's Megan? Is she in class?"

"Yes," she answered, her voice trembling. After Katie got the job at the Collegiate School, she enrolled Megan in as well, to make her day easier. "She's there."

Finally, I reached the exit and with a grunt, I pushed against the door, past the two guards, who were already turning around to see what was going on. I stepped into the street, like the rest of the people on the street were doing, pointing to the sky with interest. I nearly dropped the phone.

Loki's Tesseract device was in the process of firing a beam of blue energy straight into the sky. The exterior spun quickly, gaining speed, while the beam of energy in the sky began to expand.

"What the hell is that?" one of the bodyguards murmured behind me. I turned around quickly, looking at all the people. So much for staying low-key.

"Katie," I shouted into the phone, taking steps backwards into the street. "You need to pretend take a bathroom break, or something, grab Megan, and leave. I'll call you a taxi right now and send it to the school. Call Russell and tell him to meet you at JFK. I'm sending you all a one-way ticket to Illinois, back home." It would be easy. I could do it all from my phone in under five minutes.

"Ellie, what's going on?" Katie panted fearfully on the phone. "Terrorists?" she whispered.

"It's bad," I assured her, swallowing quickly. "Really bad. Just...I have to go, I have to take care of this, and evacuate as many people as possible. Can you just promise me you'll do what I say? Get in the taxi, get to the airport, and leave. Don't go back for anything, not now. Do you have copies of what you need?"

"M-mom and Dad have them," she stammered quickly.

"Good, good," I breathed. _How the hell is this going to be contained? _I turned away from the sky, speaking urgently into the phone. "Katie, be safe, okay?"

"Okay," my sister whispered. "You be safe, Ellie."

After I'd hung up, I called a cab for her, and ordered three first-class tickets for the next flight to Illinois. I took a few moments to breathe with relief; at least they would be safe, and Katie had some understanding of what I dealt with. I was surprised as how easily it was done.

Now, I had bigger things to deal with. I fastened the earpiece in the ear and recoiled, hearing yelling in the background. _S.H.I.E.L.D.'s a mess._

"S.H.I.E.L.D. girl!" one of the bodyguards barked with alarm. "You so smart, then what the hell is that?" I tilted my head up to the sky, following his finger. He pointed to the now swimming mass of energy above us. _It must be the Tesseract energy._

Something dark dropped out of the portal like a fly, only to recover seconds later and begin to hover in the atmosphere. From where I was, it looked like a dot. _This is the Chitauri? _"I don't know," I answered honestly, following the small dot around with my eyes. "I have no..." I trailed off, when another dark dot emerged from the portal. And another. They began to emerge, one after the other, and astonishingly fast, like bees that had just escaped from their nests.

"This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill," a computerized voice said in the my earpiece. "All units, please be advised."

"What do I do?" I demanded into the earpiece. "Stand here and watch aliens drop out of the sky?"

Across the street, a few people stood up, and began shouting orders. I assumed they were plainclothes agents. "Get inside, now!"

"Clarke?" I called, recognizing him as one of the officers herding people inside a bookstore. "What do we do?"

He whipped his head around at the same of his name. "Get those people inside, now! The people on the side!" I followed his eyes and stared at the confused group of people standing on the sidewalk.

"You heard him!" I summoned what courage I had. "Get inside the coffee store, it's not safe!"

"Just what the hell is going on, anyway?" one of the people demanded, a large businessman. "It is a show? A parade?"

"Just get inside," I muttered, motioning for them to move, like Clarke. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that more were emerging, and descending towards the ground. "Now! It's not safe!"

The large businessman stepped to the front of the crowd, clearly displeased. I chewed on my lip, feeling that he was going to be the most difficult to deal with. "And just who are you to tell me what to do? You should be in school!"

His words irked me, and with pursed lips, I pulled my gun from my belt, holding it in the air. Instantaneously, they retreated from me. I raised the hem of my sweatshirt, revealing my badge. "I'm a special ops agent, and this is an attack on New York City that could get you killed. So when I say go inside, I mean, _go inside_."

_Bunch of tarts. You have no idea what you're dealing with, _I thought furiously, as they scurried inside, eyeing the gun in my hand. They didn't know that the badges were fake, but considering the circumstances, it was necessary. While I had the time, I pulled the sweater over my head, discarding it on an empty table. Park Avenue was now completely abandoned. The other agents drew their guns, searching the skies.

"Pedagia?" Clarke's voice murmured from nearby, and I twisted to look at him. His eyes were focused directly on the sky. "Here they come."

"Helen?" I stuttered, shielding my eyes when I looked into the sun, the dark dots moving closer, and taking shape. "Has the city evacuated?" She didn't respond, but I could still hear the chaos going on in the background. She must have abandoned her post.

Once the dots came closer, I began to realize that they were shaped like humans, with arms, legs, and a head, and that they seemed to fly on some sort of small hovercraft. I squinted into the light, trying to see what they were.

One of them swooped down to the ground and began to hurtle down Park Avenue, and I saw Clarke draw his sidearm out of the corner of my eye. I stood there, at the corner of Park Avenue, watching as they raced past me, carrying golden spears with glowing blue tips. Now that they were close enough, I got a good look at them.

They wore bronze and silver armor, covering their gray skin, which bulged with muscles. Immediately, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began firing at the hostiles, shouting at the aliens to cease and desist. Their bronze armor easily deflected the bullets, and I ducked underneath one of the black tables as the bullets ricochetted around the street, smashing into windows and hitting some of the plainclothes agents.

_Oh, shit, _I thought wildly, covering my head. _They're indestructible! _I tapped my earpiece hastily. "We have a code _red_! I repeat, code red!" I shouted over the firing sounds. "Send help!"

What else was I supposed to do? Shoot and get myself killed? I don't even know if we have codes.

_I'm not trained for this, _I thought, my heart ready to burst from my chest. More of them descended onto the ground, aiming their spears at windows and tables. With an inhuman snarl, they fired, sending quick beams of energy at shops and pharmacies. I was far away enough to avoid the blast and rubble that went flying through the air.

_I can't do this. _I watched as fires rose from inside a bakery, and a nearby fire hydrant exploded, sending a blast of water into the sky.

My knees shaking uncontrollably, I stood upright from beneath my shield and looked around, surveying the damage. Shops were caved in, rubble and dirt covered the street, and cars laid overturned. On the sidewalk across from me were a few scattered bodies.

"Clarke?" My voice sounded weak. "Clarke!" _Did he fire? _I grasped the edge of the coffee shop where people were huddled in, their eyes wide with fear and peered around the corner. He laid slumped over a chair, his sidearm crushed by pieces of rubble, and little droplets of blood on the ground beneath his stomach.

* * *

After finding Clarke dead, I chose to leave Park Avenue. For now, the Chitauri had stopped attacking this street, but they had moved onto others. I jogged, as quickly as I could without hurting my already sprained ankle further, back towards S.H.I.E.L.D. There was nothing I could do. The Chitauri were practically invincible with their armor, and our guns were only going to get us killed. Maybe I could offer to try to get the machine shut down.

_This isn't what I was supposed to do, _I thought, wiping angry tears away from my face. _This wasn't supposed to happen. _I began to move the blame away from myself and away from Loki, and more towards fate. Why did Loki have to come here? Why did I take this job at S.H.I.E.L.D., only to find my life turned completely upside down?

I didn't enjoy listening to the unceasing sounds of screams and explosions around me. I could feel the ground vibrate beneath my feet as buildings were being destroyed. Sometimes I had to duck underneath tables and take cover when more Chitauri swooped from the portal, hissing through their bronzed helmets.

"PEDAGIA!" I winced, ripping my earpiece from my ear temporarily, not expecting such a loud sound. "Do you copy?"

"Kat?" I panted into my mouthpiece, sliding inside an alley. I pressed myself against the brick wall, taking deep, steady breaths.

"Miss Elle, are you alive?" Kat's voice trembled as she spoke. "What's the status of the other plainclothes?"

"Dead," I heaved. "All of them. Even Clarke."

"You have to get back to S.H.I.E.L.D., Miss Elle!" Kat declared immediately. "You need to get back here quick!"

"Okay. I'm on the way," I promised, checking around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. When a loud explosion rang from the other end of the alley I stilled, hoping that nothing was going to collapse on me.

_I hope Megan and Katie escaped, _I thought worriedly, breaking into a light sprint down the sidewalk, avoiding large chunks of rubble as I went. Further down Park Avenue, I encountered more bodies of civilians, more destroyed shops. I stepped over them with care, trying to step on a woman's ankle, or a man's shoulder, that was dislocated when he fell. Every time I passed a corpse, I closed my eyes because I felt nauseous. _It's like a horror film. _

Halfway down Park Avenue, I stepped over a old woman, whose head was cracked from a piece of rubble that fell from a top of a small building. Her eyes were wide in fright, and they would never move again.

I wiped my eyes and knelt down, sorrow striking my heart, and I closed her eyelids gently. _I'm sorry. _The skin of her eyelids felt papery thin, and so delicate. I gazed at her face for a few moments longer, until I was interrupted by a familiar, silky voice.

"I need someone to command the army on the ground."

I stood up too quickly and aggravated my ankle. Even though one knee was bowed in, I drew my sidearm from my side and aimed it directly at Loki's chest.

He stood a few paces away from me, dressed in his battle armor, which included the helmet. Today, I didn't find it nearly as funny. The cruel smirk on his lips turned into a grin, and he aimed the tip of his scepter towards me. "I need your help."

"_I will shoot you_," I promised, speaking through my teeth. "Look at all these people, look who you've killed! You've killed her! All these people, what have they done to deserve any of this?"

Loki continued to smile still. "I need you now, Elliot. I'm afraid I can no longer honor our agreement." Then he moved, and I pulled the trigger, closing my eyes when the recoil was stronger than I expected. The momentum gave Loki enough time to secure his cold hands directly around my throat and maneuver me backwards towards a glass wall.

_He's going to kill me, _I thought wildly, grasping his wrists and tugging to free myself, but his hold was strong. "Stay still," he purred, the tip of his scepter centimeters from my chest. "We'll make this quick."


	29. changing sides

**hope everyone enjoyed the opening ceremonies tonight, i thought they were lovely. wish more than ever i lived in GB. but i digress. enjoy this chapter and enjoy the next few chapters...x **

* * *

My physical body listened intently to Loki's instructions, of how to approach the Chitauri and use their spacecraft, and their spears. My main assignment was simply to destroy everything.

"Do not disappoint me," commanded Loki, turning back, his eyes holding a warning in them . "You must not fail, and you must not fall to them. Do as you are told, Elliot."

I watched this all happen from inside of a mental prison. My eyes watched Loki intently as he barked more instructions, and then my head bobbed in response. My lips and voice worked together to form a reply. Then he was gone, disappearing in a show of green and gold.

My muscles and jointed felt tired from the running, which never suited my body well. After he had left, my body turned in the complete opposite direction and broke into a sprint down the broken street. I watched, completely helpless, as my physical body joined the fight. I felt the pain of running, the burning in my chest, but I could do nothing about it.

This is what it must feel like to be undone. It was as if my mind was subdued, or chained to a fence post, so it could do nothing. There was no thinking, no consideration.

_Be a good girl, Elliot. _

Two Chitauri warriors were in the middle of overturning a gray vehicle when I approached them, admiring their power, and how majestic they looked in their bronzed helmets. Once they spotted me, they drew their spears to fire, but I spoke to them in a language that was unfamiliar to my tongue. Within seconds, they had withdrawn their weapons and crept towards me, their small, beady eyes observing me with interest.

"I will require a spear, and a vehicle," I spoke, my tongue still speaking the unfamiliar language. "We will make them burn."

* * *

Riding on a flying board was nothing that I had ever done before in my life, but I stepped onto it as if I'd done it hundreds of times through my lifetime. My hands deftly activated the spacecraft, and the board ascended into the air with quickness.

"You must strike the buildings," Zhag spoke, drawing his spear as well. "They are the easiest to burn."

With a chuckle, I promised him that the buildings would burn swiftly. I felt the sensations of the wind brushing against my cheek, and causing my hair to fly around me. Zhag hissed behind me with excitement as the spacecraft took off through the city, and he fired upon the buildings with pleasure. Once the board had reached a sufficient height, I steadied it with one hand and aimed with the other, pointing the tip at several buildings. Without any hesitation, I drew the spear back before firing, grunting through my teeth. Satisfaction coursed through me when I watched the building reduce to ashes.

"You are very good," Zhag told me, placing one heavy hand on my shoulder. "Very, very good."

"I thank you," I murmured in response, trying to remain as humble as I could in response to his praise. Promptly, I turned to the other side of the street and fired at another building. Tendrils of fire crawled through the window.

I wanted to lash out. I wanted to scream, I wanted to grab the handles of the flying board and send it crashing to the ground, killing the Chitauri with it. But my muscles were entirely committed to sending beams of blue energy towards the buildings, and at vehicles. No matter what I wanted to do, my body would not listen.

"More come," Zhag told me. "To the sky, mortal."

My body should not have been able to handle the atmospheric pressure as I tilted the spacecraft towards the portal, but for some reason, it did. My breathing didn't constrict as we sailed further towards the upper atmosphere.

"Elliot!" It was a deep, male voice that had roared from somewhere in the vicinity. Curling my lip with disgust, I spotted the Thunder God standing on top of Stark's Tower, with Loki at his feet.

"You must go defend him," Zhag commanded me. "He is our leader."

I handed him my spear, and took a leap off the edge of the craft. My body contorted in ways it had never done before as I landed gracefully on the platform, tucking into a roll.

My breathing was labored, but I stood upright, sinking into a crouch before the Thunder God. At his feet lay Loki, very still, and emitting weak moans. Had he hurt him? What if he was on the brink of death?

"What have you done to him, Asgardian?" I snarled.

My voice was not my own. It was lower, smoother, and held hatred. The Thunder God widened his eyes, struck dumb.

"What has he done to you?" His voice was broken. I sneered in response to his words.

"You speak like a weakling, Thunder God," I purred, watching as his eyebrows came together. "Does Loki best you again?"

"Elliot, what he done to you? You must tell me!" insisted the Asgardian, taking steps towards me.

"You will let Loki alone, or I will kill you where you stand," I warned him. It would be simple; as monstrous he appears, he is weaker to me. My hands curled and my muscles flexed, proving to him that I could bring him to his knees if he even dared to move closer towards me.

The Thunder God remained still, clenching his jaw while he pondered my words. Behind him, Loki began to push himself upright, still moaning. "Do you live?" I called, leaning past the prince. "Where do you hurt? Are you wounded?" I would bash the Thunder God with his own hammer if he had.

"I am well," moaned Loki, standing upright and drawing his spear. "You have served me faithfully. Return to the aide of the Chitauri."

"Loki, have you stolen her mind?" Loki flashed him a brilliant smile.

"But of course."

As long as Loki was well, I was well. Ignoring the Thunder God, I turned on my heel and peered over the edge of the tower, searching.

When Zhag returned, I leaped over the edge.

* * *

"The Leviathans will soon arrive," Zhag told me, after he had successfully collapsed a large building on a crowd of people. "And then, Earth will be ours."

"There is one problem." I looked to my left, and to my right, at the Chitauri who followed us, awaiting instructions. "The mortal fighters." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a black ship approaching the city, and taking the offensive against our fighters. "You!" I barked, pointing at the group to my right. "Subdue them, and take the ship down." They peeled off from us, drawing their spears.

"We cannot allow them to interrupt the plan," I told Zhag, pursing my lips. "If I recall correctly, they are no longer in possession of their strongest warrior."

"Then our victory will be swift."

I glanced over my shoulder at Zhag, who was proving to be a reliable companion. His tongue snaked past the rows of razor-sharp teeth to hiss at me, a hiss of pleasure.

"Shall we return to the ground and advance on the mortals?" he suggested. "I grow bored of the air."

"Let us descend," I agreed, sending the spacecraft into a descent. As we moved closer to the ground, I watched as the first Leviathan arrived, swimming gracefully through the portal and onto Earth. As a greeting, its mouth opened, and released a powerful beam of energy, destroying an entire row of buildings. I smiled in response.

Without warning, Zhag emitted a high-pitched screech and my ears throbbed in response to the high-frequency of his shrill cry.

"The metal man kills my brothers!" he hissed furiously, narrowing his eyes.

"Be at peace," I assured him. "In time."

I brought the spacecraft to a gentle stop and then we disembarked the hover board, leaving it by a pile of overturned vehicles. In our presence, several people ran into buildings for cover. A smiled curled at my lips; if I willed it, I could destroy them all.

But a sigh escaped my lips, and I followed Zhag, who crushed cars with one fist. He and I marched down the street, with his brothers nearby, firing at will. My arms physically ached from holding the heavy spear for so long, but my body ignored the pain. Sweat began to roll down my forehead and into my eye, causing it to sting, but the momentary agony was forgotten. I wanted to collapse underneath the pain, but my muscles wouldn't move.

Ahead, I could see black and white vehicles forming a blockade in the middle of the street. Men drew their guns, yelling at Zhag and his brothers to drop their weapons. I smiled on them with pity, and nodded to Uzhi. With one movement of his fist, he sent two cars rolling in their direction, causing them to scatter. I finished them off with two shots.

"Agent Pedagia!" a female voice called from behind, and I snarled with irritation. The voice belonged to the redhead. I pivoted on my feet and turned to face them. She walked, along with the Captain, and the archer.

They all fixed me with perplexed expressions. "Come!" I barked to Zhag, who had mistakenly continued to walk.

"Elle, what you doing?" the assassin exclaimed. My eyes narrowed in slits as I took in her tiny frame. Zhag could crush her with one hand.

"Which would you like to crush?" I inquired with a smile, turning to Zhag. He bared his sharp teeth.

"All of them."

"Elle?" she exclaimed again, once I turned upon her and aimed my weapon for her chest. Next to her, the archer opened his bow and nocked an arrow.

"I'll shoot her," he grunted, closing one eye. "She touches you, and she dies."

"She's not in the right mind!" cried the Captain, putting a hand in the archer's way. "Something's happened to her."

"They are stalling for time," Zhag hissed with exasperation. "Fire upon them immediately and let us finish our task."

"You go," I said out of the corner of my mouth. "I will be enough to kill them all." I had waited for this moment for a while; the redhead never was especially pleasing to me, and she was too pretty.

"Find us after you have made them burn." Zhag snarled at them once more, a warning, and then he crawled in the other direction.

I narrowed my eyes, wondering which I would shoot first. The innocent Captain? The poor, misunderstood archer? Or the vulnerable assassin?

"Not in the right state of mind?" demanded the archer, still keeping the bow aimed at my chest. He did not intimidate me.

Inside, I was screaming, clawing to get out.


	30. confrontation

**thank you very kindly for reviews. afraid you all will hate me in two chapters. eheheheh x**

* * *

"He's done something to her," stated the Captain. "Elle, has he hurt you?"

"You will be quiet!" I hissed, his voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard. "You're foolish, Captain. Do you think a metal shield will save you from this?" I motioned to the spear. "I will kill you, and then I will mildly injure the archer, and make _you _watch him suffer and bleed to death. And when I'm finished with him, I'll put a hole through your chest!" I spat, looking at Natasha.

"He's got her," said the archer grimly. "'Tasha?"

"Cognitive recalibration," she panted, her narrow eyes examining me. I tightened my hands on the spear. One movement, and I would kill her. I only wanted them to move first, so when they slowly slipped into the clutches of death, they would feel nothing but humiliation, knowing they didn't even have a chance to defend themselves.

"What are you waiting for?" asked the archer. "Shoot us."

"I'd rather you move first. It would make this more exciting for me," I said through my teeth, looking upon the man with distaste. Yes, he would die first.

They looked between each other and I watched them, moving the spear between them. This is all simply a tactic to distract me, and I wasn't going to fall for it.

While they mentally debated what to do, I could see Zhag, slowly crawling down the length of a building, hissing quietly. I resisted the urge to smile at them; perhaps watching Zhag tear them to pieces would be more entertaining after all.

"We could..." the redhead murmured, nodding. "It would be the simplest." I could not stop the grin from spreading across my face as Zhag leaned over them, his tongue curling past his teeth to taste their scent. "I like it."

The Captain raised his eyes, and then recoiled, seeing Zhag. "I do not like _that_!"

With a snarl, Zhag lunged for the Captain, baring his teeth to sink into the mortal's neck. At the last moment, he dodged, slamming the shield into his head. The archer and the redhead jumped backwards, taken by complete surprise. Laughing, I fired the spear for them both. Let them die holding each other.

Smoke filled the air, and I could hear Zhag snarling twice before falling completely silent. I lowered the spear, trying to see. Was he successful?

The sounds of whining filled the air and they were Zhag's. Screeching, I fired twice more into the smoke. How dare they kill him!

Inside, I rejoiced.

The smoke grew, and I waved my hands wildly to see if I'd killed the assassins. From where I stood, I was able to see a dark shadow standing upright. It was the archer.

Baring my teeth, I raised my spear again to fire at him. Before I could, a dark shadow moved in front of me, and then there was blinding pain in the side of my head. I recoiled with a yell, grasping my head as the pain spread. I could no longer see the archer in front of me, only a haze of smoke.

_It hurts, _I thought wildly, clutching my head. I heard the sound of a faint roar in the back of my mind, and I shook my head, dropping to the ground while two sides of me battled for control of my mind. I kicked and scratched at the mental prison.

"Elliot. ELLE!" I was being roughly shaken, and it didn't help. "ELLE, you have to get up!"

_Get out! _The overwhelming sensation to submit to his magic grew, but I struggled, trying to push the alien presence from my mind.

"ELLIOT!"

The voice was closer to me, and I recognized it. Someone gripped my hands and pulled them from my head. "Elle, please, say something!"

_Steve, _I remembered, peeling my eyes open to look into his worried eyes. I licked my cracked, dry lips. "Ow."

My mind felt clear, and it was my own.

* * *

Once I had sufficiently recovered from the blow to my head, Steve stood me gently upright and helped me limp over towards Natasha and Barton, who sat on top of an overturned car, discussing attack plans. When I neared, Barton tensed, his hands gripping his bow.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I croaked, wincing when the pain in my head spiked.

"He got to her," Steve stated with worry, tightening his hold on my waist. I rubbed my head and a mixture of dirt, dust, and blood stuck to my fingertips. "I'm sorry I had to hit you, Agent Pedagia." Natasha hurriedly sat me down on the edge of the car.

"Rogers, 'Tasha and I need to go," Barton said curtly, opening his bow. "Catch up with us."

_God, that hurt, _I thought, groaning quietly. _What a punch. _"Barton, I'm sorry about...those things I said," I said hoarsely. "Just-"

"I know." Barton's blue eyes were speculative. "I was there. Come on." Natasha turned to look at me once more, her eyes filled with worry, but she followed Barton.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, sliding into my line of vision. "We need to get you to a hospital, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine." The words took me a few minutes to slur. "Why'd you hit me so hard?"

"To get him out of your mind!" Steve's blue eyes were panicked. "Elle, you were speaking alien languages! You were two seconds away from killing Barton. I knew that wasn't you up there, shooting those buildings."

I tuned him out and listened to the sound of exploding buildings around me. "What did I do? This? I did all of it?" I motioned to the rubble in the street.

"Mostly."

_I'm going to be killed if S.H.I.E.L.D. ever gets hold of me, _I thought with worry.

"Barton already contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. I've got Thor going after Loki, and we found Dr. Banner-"

"You did?"

Steve nodded quickly, looking past me. "But I have to leave you, Elle. I can't stay here...are you sure you're okay?"

I took a few breaths to focus on saying words. "No, but you have to leave, so go." Steve didn't try to convince me to make him stay. Still worried, he left me, looking over his shoulder every now and then, until he disappeared around the corner, holding up his shield for protection.

I was left alone, sitting on top of an overturned car, that _I _probably caused. I felt around my forehead again, trying to remove dirt from the wound so it wouldn't become infected. Now that I was returned to my body, I was able to feel the dull ache building in my shoulders, the throbbing pain in my ankle. While I was imprisoned, my body rejected all of this. It was the scariest feeling in the world, watching yourself run, and knowing that you weren't doing the running. Someone else controlled your lips, your arms.

_My mind, _I thought, relishing in the ability to think again.

It was the most horrifying experience.

I had to clench my jaw as tightly as possible to stop the potential onslaught of angry tears. _What do I do now? _I'm injured, all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are dead, and I don't have any abilities like Barton or Steve. In short, I'm a liability. So gingerly, I slid off the edge of the car, onto the ground, and searched for a place to hide until this was all over. There was no way I'd be able to make it back to S.H.I.E.L.D., and who knew when the Chitauri would stop?

One of the buildings, an old pharmacy, lay partially destroyed nearby, the entire half top gone. What was left was big enough to hide in. I listened carefully for the explosions if they came closer to me while I climbed over the building and looked around. Nothing but dirt and rubble was left of the foundation. Luckily, I found no bodies.

_I can't believe this, _I thought, feeling helpless as I sagged against the partially destroyed wall. My earpiece had fallen out of my ear sometime ago, so I couldn't contact anyone for help. My phone was gone, so I couldn't call for help, or for Katie. The only thing I had on me, thankfully, was my gun.

Above me, I heard a shrill cry that echoed throughout the entire city and I raised my eyes to see another batch of Leviathans emerge from the portal, turning five buildings into ash with one movement of their tails. One of them sailed overhead and I held my breath, hoping they wouldn't decide to completely wipe this building off the map.

The sounds of gunshots, and loud thuds came from the other side of the street, so I hobbled over the rubble to see what was going on. Peering through what probably held a shattered window, I watched as Steve and Thor battled against four or five Chitauri. With a grunt, Steve slammed his shield into one of the warriors, sending it flying into a truck, but while he was occupied, one of the Chitauri fired at his side.

_I have to do something, _I thought firmly, watching Steve sink to the ground. My arms were shaking, but I still managed to fire a few clean shots into the soft gray flesh between their armor. The recoil spread throughout my already sore arms. _Success. _I allowed myself the tiniest of smiles.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move, and I pivoted quickly, pointing my sidearm at Loki.

He was in the process of stepping over some rubble, and then quickly raised his hands to the sky, widening his eyes with fake innocence.

"I've come to help you," he spoke slowly.

_No, you haven't, _I thought angrily, steadying my firearm. "Loki, I swear that if you take one more step towards me, I am going to shoot you. And I know exactly where your weak spots are. I know where I can fire to kill you," I said through my teeth.

His innocent mask faded away and was replaced with a cruel smirk. "Did you not enjoy it, Elliot? Was it not easier?" he crooned, lowering his arms. When he took another step, I fired.

The sound of the bullet firing never reached my ears, because nothing fired. The gun was empty. I'd fired too many rounds.

"Just my luck that you'd show up when I'm out of rounds!" I screamed, throwing the empty gun in his direction, but he deflected it with his wrist armor. His tongue stroked his lower lip as he moved deftly over the rubble towards me. I glanced over my shoulder at Steve and Thor, but they were gone, off fighting with the others.

A hand pressed against my chest and pushed me back into the brick wall. "Now, now, Agent Pedagia, you shouldn't exert so much energy. You are weakened, after all." His smile widened, and I figured he was trying to figure out what to do. I scanned my brain for the defensive moves Natasha taught me.

_If I moved my arm just right, I could punch him in the nose. _

"Your mortal body is too weak." Even in the sounds of explosions around me, I could hear him speak softly. "You must get yourself taken to a healing room, before you do further damage to your ankle."

"What?" I snapped, taken aback by his words. His face slackened, the smirk disappearing, and his eyebrows came together with concern while he looked me up and down, stepping closer. Loki raised one hand hesitantly, his eyes asking for permission - and then he stroked my brow. Like a curious child, he looked at the stained blood on his fingertips as if it was unfamiliar to him. In one of his startling transformations, he was suddenly back to the vulnerable, scared prince who feared for his life. Despite the sincerity of his words, my wariness only eased a fraction.

A few explosions sounded behind me and I stilled, waiting for the building to collapse, but I was spared. I took a slow breath, raising my eyes to his. "You can stop this," I tried. "You can end this now, before more people are hurt. If you cooperate, S.H.I.E.L.D. can protect you from whoever threatened to kill you."

"It isn't enough." Loki licked his lips anxiously, staring at me through the hood of his helmet. "They will come for me."

"We can _help _you," I emphasized. "It's not too late to stop this." _If he's this vulnerable, maybe I can talk him out of it. I could end this all, right now. _It was a long shot, but just maybe, if I could get through that thick skull of his, everyone would be spared. The ones that were alive, at least. "I can find them."

"You must stay here," he commanded, his vulnerability slipping away.

This tone didn't settle well with me. "You know I don't like being told what to do. You don't have your scepter, either. I'm hurt, but I can still climb over that wall, and bring more agents," I threatened, pointing down the road. He remained quiet, examining me with his cold eyes. _Your move. _

I didn't expect that he would settle his cold hands on either side of my neck and kiss me with enough force to crush me against the wall.


	31. tricked

**here is the second to last chapter, enjoy! thank you to those who have reviewed and given their constructive criticism for this fic, it is greatly appreciated. i have a surprise you for all in the last chapter. curious? THEN READ! **_  
_

* * *

_What is he doing? _I mentally screamed, struggling to pull my face away, but his hands were like iron, unmoving. His tongue, hard and wet entered my mouth and I nearly gagged. _This can't be a kiss, it feels like I'm being violated! _Abruptly, he changed direction and withdrew his tongue so he could press his cold, chapped lips against mine, once. _  
_

Then it was over, and I wheezed for air, opening my eyes to meet heavy-lidded emerald eyes that gleamed with victory. My sensory perception went into total hyperdrive; I could smell the gasoline from the overturned car I knew was behind me. The vibrations that shook the ground from the explosions seemed more prominent than ever, but what stuck out to me most was the clean male scent of Loki as his body heat radiated outwards. That, and that my lips were throbbing painfully, and there was an alien taste in my mouth.

"Tell me I'm not alone," he whispered, his eyes boring into mine. He dropped both of his hands from my face. "The terror, the panic and burn." I searched Loki's eyes, trying to find his angle. I couldn't decide whether to defend myself against him or not. He dropped his eyes, and I thought he was going to kiss me again. Was he?_  
_

While I was thinking, it happened. There was a sickening sliding sound down below, and what followed it was the most intense pain I had ever felt in my life. A searing burn flared up in my leg, consuming me in agony, and my mind went completely blank. I gripped Loki's shoulder and tried to push him away, but he wouldn't move. One free hand clamped over my mouth, stifling my screams.

"I'm telling you _stay here_," he snarled, driving the dagger in a little deeper, but yanking it out suddenly. My vision blurred as tears lined my eyes. _He stabbed me? _I looked down at my thigh, which had tendrils of blood dripping from a deep hole. Through the pain, my leg gave in, and I felt myself slide down the brick wall, scraping the skin of my neck.

"Why?" I screamed, grasping my leg as I fell clumsily onto a slab of rubble. Loki peered down at me with a curled lip, and then smiled once, although it didn't reach his eyes. _It's bleeding too much, I'm losing too much blood!_

"Sentiment," he murmured. And then Loki was gone, walking past me through the rubble. I twisted my neck as far as I could, following him until he disappeared from sight.

* * *

I was beginning to panic and applied pressure to the wound to staunch the bleeding, but it wasn't going to help. I gritted my teeth and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, looking around. Steve and Thor hadn't come back yet. _If they don't come back soon, I'm going to bleed to death. _It was unlikely, though. The wound was deep and I was losing blood, but at least he hadn't stabbed me in the chest.

Once my sobs had subsided, I felt more furious than I ever had in my life; that kiss was just a distraction. It caught me completely off guard, which gave him more than enough time to stab me with his dagger. _He was playing me all along. _

I looked down at my leg again, now that my vision was clear. Even in my terrified state, I tried to calm down and think rationally. _You're sitting in a pile of dirt and rubble. The wound might get infected. Gotta stand up. This will hurt. _With the tiniest bit of energy I had left, I grabbed the edge of the largest piece of rubble near me, and pushed myself up. It was a fight; my legs felt like lead, and my shoulders ached, but after a few minutes, I managed to stand myself partially upright, even though I was gripping the stone for dear life.

"If I have kids," I muttered to myself, moving along the wall gingerly. "I'm going to tell them how their mother got stabbed. By a damn alien." J_ust even thinking about him makes me want to punch a wall! _This entire time, I had literally been strung along. Taking the disk got me into his hands, and once he figured out that I'm not good at hiding emotions, he played me like an instrument. Being nice to me to make me think he was vulnerable, manipulating me into hiding secrets...it was all so perfectly planned.

If I could just get my hands on his neck, I would kill himself if the others didn't do it first.

Once I'd gotten out of the non-existent door, I peered down the street, breathing hard. My chest was on fire again. I figured that if I survived this, I was going to get myself diagnosed with asthma. _Not a soul. _

_Think, Elle, think. What can you do? You've been stabbed, you're exhausted, you're about to pass out. What can you do to get yourself out of this? _Pure logic would solve my problems. Emotions and instincts were out of the questions.

The first objective: get to S.H.I.E.L.D. And how exactly was I going to do that? I scanned the road for a clue, and found it lying not too far away from me. Lying beneath a shop table was a Blackberry, its lights still flashing.

Thankfully, the phone was unlocked. Hastily, I dialed Kat's number. She picked up with a frantic, "Hello?"

"Kat, I need you to send someone out here to Buckingham Street," I panted, staring up at Stark Tower.

"I'm on it, Miss Elle! Are you okay?" called Kat, sounding flustered. "It's a nightmare in here, where are the Avengers?"

"I don't know," I whispered, tilting my head up to the sky, watching the portal. I limped further down the road, watching explosions in the sky. "Kat, are they coming?"

"_I'm _coming," she emphasized hurriedly, breathing loudly into the phone. "I'm on my way. You find somewhere to hide, Miss Elle. Don't let yourself get hurt again! What happened?"

"He stabbed me," I said through my teeth, bending over to look at my wound. I had ripped off my jacket and removed my tank top from underneath my black-shirt and tied it around my leg. It was drenched with blood already. Feeling woozy, I leaned against the nearest wall. "I'm losing a lot of blood."

"I'm driving down the street now. Wave so I can see you!"

_Thank God. _From the very end of the street, I could see a black car swerving down the street, avoiding fallen rubble and slowing around dead bodies. Wearily, I raised both arms and waved to her. _I can go home. _

The car slowed in front of me and my associate rushed out, her blue eyes stained with tears. "Miss Elle!" Her blond hair looked wild and her eyes tired.

"You stupid girl, stop crying," I panted, stumbling over the edge of the sidewalk. Kat grabbed me from the arm and assisted me inside of the black convertible, blubbering incessantly over my bloodied makeshift bandage. "I'm okay, he didn't get me where it counts."

Kat scurried inside of the car and wiped her eyes hastily, looking embarrassed. "Miss Elle, this is the nightmare. I didn't expect any of this!"

"No one did, now drive," I murmured, trying to stretch my injured leg. "I need a headset, do you have one?" While revving up the car, she ripped hers off her head and handed it to me.

_Finally, _I thought, putting it on. "Tony? Steve? Anyone there?"

"Pedagia!" Stark's voice gasped, sounding constricted. "I need you to-"

"To what?" I scanned the skies, searching for him while Kat sped down the street. "To what, Tony, to what?"

"I might not make out of here, and I need you to make sure I come back!" he grunted, sounding like he was doing heavy lifting. "If I were you I'd...get Bruce to help out..."

"Kat, head towards Stark Tower," I ordered, my heart racing with worry. _What is he talking about?_

"Miss Elle, Stark's gone mad!" Kat screeched, pointing through the windshield at a human figure sailing towards the sky, carrying something on his back. "He's putting the bomb through the portal!"

"What bomb?" I screeched back, looking between Stark and Kat. "What are you talking about?"

"The Council ordered the city be destroyed to stop the Chitauri," answered Kat, her hands visibly shaking on the wheel. "They ordered a bomb, and Stark's going to send it out!"

It was a good idea, but every shade of insane.

"Rogers, you need to find Banner," I said urgently, scanning the car for the button to release the cover. "Tony's worried."

"On it." Hidden underneath the dashboard was a lever that I pulled with a grunt, and the cover began to disappear. I chewed on my lip anxiously and glanced at Kat, whose eyes were trained on Stark, ascending towards the portal.

"Pepper's gonna kill me if I don't come back," Stark muttered, and that was the last thing I heard from him. After that, he completely disappeared into the dark mass of energy.

_You need to come back. _Kat stopped the car and we both stood up in our seats, watching the sky. _There's no Avengers if someone's missing. _I gripped the top of the windshield, searching every inch of the portal for Tony, waiting for him to fly out with flair, wave a little, and race through the sky like he used to do at his shows. _Come back, Tony, come on. _The most excruciating aspect of waiting was wondering what we would do if Tony didn't return. The Chitauri were a vast army; if he failed, there would be nothing we could do to eradicate them from New York City. I zoned out, thinking of how horrible it would be.

An excited screech from Kat brought me back to the present and I turned my eyes up to the sky again, watching a tiny figure fall from the portal. But even as she continued to laugh with excitement, I knew something was wrong.

"He's not stopping!" exclaimed Natasha.

"Find Banner before he crashes!" I yelled fearfully, urging Kat to drive. Without caring for my injured leg, I dropped into the seat as she put the car into gear, and sped in Tony's direction, doing at least 70 mph on the road. "Where is he?"

"Miss Elle..." began Kat, sounding worried. Then she screamed, pointing in the rearview mirror. I turned it towards me and did a double take. Racing down the street, was the Hulk.

_Think, Elle, think._

"Stop!" I said quickly, throwing my arm in front of her. "I think he's gonna-" I trailed off, watching as he got closer, baring his teeth. With one foot, he leapt, landing on the edge of the car. Kat and I both shrieked as the car sank underneath his weight, and with a roar, Banner took off, sailing towards one of the buildings.

The car sputtered and died immediately. I clutched my hand to my chest, trying to calm down. _I saw that coming, but holy hell. _

"Stark is in the Hulk's hands!" exclaimed Steve, sounding relieved. "He's okay."

* * *

The adrenaline rush gave me enough energy to get me through five more minutes of walking, to where Tony laid on the ground, surrounded by the rest of the Avengers. He was laughing, pointing to the sky, which was now completely clear and blue. Steve knelt next to him, nodding with a smile on his face and his shield on the ground next to him.

"Is Stark okay?" Kat panted, helping me towards them. "Mr. Stark!"

In the suit, Tony twisted his head around and smiled widely. "Kitty Kat!" Groaning, he sat upright, waving Steve away. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Kat looked at me expectantly and with a nod, I slid my arms away. _Kitty Kat, _I thought with amusement. She approached her, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. I guessed they had become friends while I was gone.

Suddenly, I wanted to sleep. Steve stood up, gathering his shield, and walked over to me, his face weary, but still smiling. When he noticed how awkwardly I stood, he looked me up and down.

"God, did he hurt you?" His eyebrows came together. "Elle, I told you to stay put."

"He found me, I didn't move a muscle," I answered honestly. "I just need to get to a hospital. You look well."

Steve smiled crookedly, trying to rub some dirt off his face. "Do I?"

"Yes, never better."

* * *

Kat rode with me back to S.H.I.E.L.D. The others still had one more matter to take care of: Loki. Natasha informed me that Banner took care of Loki, and he was currently lying in Stark's living room, completely incapacitated.

Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., every living soul was celebrating with champagne or wine, toasting each other to another success. Those who weren't drinking were assigned to cleanup, which is always the worst part of situations like these. News stations were already jumping on top of it, getting interviews from witnesses. S.H.I.E.L.D. worked very hard to ensure that no camera footage of the Chitauri would reach television screens. Videos that had been uploaded to YouTube were deleted. Especially since someone managed to get a video of me speaking alien tongue.

Unfortunately, I was debriefed, and I had to explain how Loki had managed to take me under mind-control and force me to work for the aliens. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life.

Of course, I left out the kiss.

Later, Barton tried to reassure me that he was considered one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents, and even he was susceptible, so I shouldn't feel too guilty. I thanked Steve again for knocking me on the head.

"You're lucky to still be able to walk, Ms. Pedagia," Doctor Hunt said, tutting as he looked at charts. "That stab wound was pretty deep!" Kat sat in a chair next to my bed in my hospital room, and she looked at the doctor with alarm.

"Will she be able to walk, sir?" Kat asked him, looking at my bandaged leg. Although the wound was deep, the doctors were able to clean it and stitch it up. Bottles of antibiotics sat on a small wooden table on the other side of my bed. I looked at them with distaste. _I hate swallowing pills. _

"She'll be able to walk. Those aliens missed a major nerve by a few centimeters." _Lucky break. _I sighed loudly. _Or else, I'd be handicapped and out of a job. _"You should be walking in about a week and a half, two weeks tops."

"Thanks, Doc," I said gratefully. Doctor Hunt peered at me over his spectacles, smiled, and then excused him, tending to another patient. I leaned against the pillow, closing my eyes. _What a day. _

"I'm so glad you're alright, Miss Elle," Kat said quietly, leaning towards me. "I was afraid I was never gonna see you again."

"Are you still mad at me, Kat?" I asked casually, reaching for my glass of water. Eagerly, she shook her head.

"Oh, no! I was just worried about you, that's all. It just didn't make any sense...but I guess you're just unlucky, huh?" Kat reached over and squeezed my hand with a smile.

I lied to her face. "Yeah, Kat. I'm just unlucky." She smiled sadly and stood upright with a tired sigh. "Where are you off to?"

"Back to work." Kat frowned, clearly unhappy. "I'm assigned to cleanup."

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely, following her with my eyes to the door. "Good luck?" Kat saluted me with a grin and closed the door behind her.

_I've never been happier to be stabbed, _I thought honestly, sinking against the warm pillows. _Now I can get real sleep. _

Throughout this entire ordeal I never truly felt relieved until today. The Chitauri were gone, New York was partially destroyed, but saved, Loki was being sent home, and so was I. He would never be able to threaten me again.

I still felt guilty that I never truly told the whole story. No one knows that it was me who took the information, no one knows I never gave that disk to Sullivan, and no one knows that I willingly cooperated with Loki. The possibility that Selvig or Barton might talk still loomed over my head. In the back of my mind, I began to wonder if I should talk to them privately. Maybe, maybe not. I only remembered bits and pieces of my temporary mind-control, maybe they didn't remember me.

_Mind-control. I thought it was only a trick, _I mused grimly. _Nothing better than being wrenched from your own body. _

Disturbing my thoughts was the sound of my cell-phone ringing. Conveniently, it was placed on the table next to me, and I picked it up, glancing at the caller I.D. It was Katie.

_At least she's okay, _I reminded myself, taking a deep breath before answering the call. "Hello?" I murmured, staring at a cut on my hand.

"I saw you, Ellie. On television. Shooting at aliens."

Her words were clipped, and my heart skipped a beat. _I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. took care of it. _That meant that Katie saw me doing my job. _Oh, no. _

I licked my lips, glancing around the room. "I...Katie, I tried to tell you. So many times...but I was sworn to secrecy, they promised to kill me." Which was mostly a lie. I wasn't going to be killed...I think.

"So you're telling me that you work as an alien-hunter," she assumed curtly. "That's what you've been doing for the past three years. Hunting aliens."

"I don't _hunt _them," I corrected her. "You don't know it, but there are foreign species trying to invade Earth every single day, and it's my job to keep them from succeeding. I still work with computers, I help to track them down, and help provide communications. I work with the database, I update programs so agents can get where they need to go and take care of the situation before normal civilians like you, or Russell catch onto it. You don't know it, but there's a lot out there you don't know about."

I sounded like the recruiting agent who came to my door that day three years ago.

"I'm sorry I kept this from you, I'm sorry I never see you, or Katie, or Mom or Dad but...I didn't have a choice. Katie, you have to understand that I just wanted to protect you," I tried, staring at the door.

"I'm the big sister. I'm supposed to protect you."

Smiling a little, I played with my sheets. "You're not the alien hunter."

"This world is absolutely insane," muttered Katie on a sigh. "Where are you? Are you hurt anywhere?"

I hesitated.

"Ellie?" she demanded, her voice rising several pitches. "Are you hurt?"

"Yeah..." I said slowly, bracing for impact. "One of them...got me in my leg."

"Can you walk? We're coming to get you right now."

"NO!" I sat upright with alarm. "That's the worst possible idea. You stay exactly where you are...where are you, anyway?"

"We're still in JFK. Once word got around about what happened, the airport shut down and we were in lockdown. Russell, Megan and I are on our way home, though."

_What a relief. _"How about you just go home, and when I get back, you can come over? Bring them both, okay?"

Katie was silent a little while longer, and when she spoke, her voice was emotional. "I'll come over and...and we'll make spaghetti like we used too, kay?"

I smiled at the memory of Spaghetti Sundays. "Okay, Katie."

Katie laughed once, sounding disbelieving. "My sister, the alien hunter."

"I just type on computers." I shrugged my shoulders. "It's no big deal."


	32. the final phase

**a few days later  
**

I supposed that I should have been honored to be invited to this. Steve personally made a house call.

I was at home, playing with Megan while Katie and Russell prepared a special dinner for the four of us in the kitchen. Even though I was temporarily incapacitated, I offered to play a game of charades with her.

Grunting, I adjusted my leg that rested on the couch and focused intently while she acted out a movie. The smells of spaghetti sauce floated throughout the living room and for the first time in ages, I felt relaxed.

"Megan, I have no idea what this is," I sighed with exasperation. Megan stopped crawling on the carpet and stood upright, pouting at me. "Honey, I don't have any idea."

"It's a movie!" she tried again, her blue eyes hopeful. "It's a Disney movie."

"Do it again," I tried, sitting up against the pillows. I watched as she crawled on all fours across the beige carpet, making noises that sounded like a trumpet. She was about to run right into the small coffee table that Katie had bought for the house. "Watch your head! Don't want Mommy to get upset."

"Guess?" Megan said excitedly, standing upright. I blew air out of the corner of my mouth, eyeing her. _Crawling all on fours. Trumpets. Moneys. _

The thought came to me. "Jungle Book?"

"Yay!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "It's...it's the part where Mowgli's with the elephants, remember?"

I made a show of slapping my hand against my forehead. "Duh! Of course I remember!" With that, Megan skipped over to me on the couch and gingerly climbed over me until she settled on my stomach, curling against me.

"What's on the T.B.?" she asked me, tilting her head up towards mine. I grinned at her naive mispronunciation.

"I dunno, let's find out?" I tried, reaching for the remote and flipping through the channels. I never had a real need for a television in my house, since I was rarely there, but with Katie and Megan promising to visit often, I figured it was the only way to keep a seven-year-old entertained.

"Is the food nearly ready?" I called, my stomach rumbling. "I'm starving!"

"Keep your bandages on," Katie called rudely. "I'm just heating up meatballs. Russell, honey, those are _carrots. _I need parmesan. Can you cook at all?"

Verbally abusing Russell is something Katie's good at. And yet, they're still married.

I had been counting the number of peacocks with Megan, in the middle of Dora the Explorer, when my doorbell rang. Immediately, Megan slid off my body and skipped over to the door. "Dinner guests?" she guessed, hopping excitedly. "Are Gram and Gramps coming?"

I shrugged. Megan reached for the doorknob and pulled with a squeak.

I watched as her face went from excitement to confusion, and then she turned to face me. "Auntie Elle, I think it's for you."

_Oh, no, _I thought with worry, hastily standing up without bothering to get my crutches. I hobbled over towards the door hesitantly, and peered around the doorjamb. Standing on my patio were Kat and Steve Rogers. Kat was dressed in her uniform, and Rogers wore his familiar brown leather jacket, a brown and yellow checkered shirt, and khakis.

I widened my eyes in surprise. "Hello."

"Hi, Miss Elle!" Kat squeaked excitedly.

Steve's eyes were apologetic. "Do you have a minute?" He glanced obviously at Megan, who stood with wide eyes, looking at all of them.

Kat took action, crouching down to her level. "Hi, there! My name is Kat!"

"Hi, Kat, I'm Megan," she said shyly, her eyes still wide.

"Were you doing anything fun before we arrived?" she asked, making an over-exaggerated face of interest.

"I was watching Dora explore stuff."

"Mind if I watch?"

"Sure!" Megan squealed, grabbing her by the hand and leading her inside. Kat looked at me as she walked inside, jerking her head to Rogers. I closed the door behind them, and then turned to face the two men in front of me. A black SUV waited for them on the curb, guarded by another agent.

"What can I do for you?" I asked warily, looking at him.

"How is your leg?" he asked, not answering my question. "You...um, don't have crutches."

"Um...healing. Slowly, but it's healing." I glanced down at my bandaged thigh for emphasis.

"How's your head?" Steve rasped softly, looking apologetic. "I'm...sorry about that."

"Did you have a choice?" I replied, shrugging. "I'm fine."

"Good, good..." Steve trailed off. "Uh, I've come here with an offer."

Past experience told me to me to be apprehensive.

"We're preparing for Thor and Loki to return to Asgard this afternoon."

Relief coursed through me, and I dared to smile. "Oh?"

"Yes. Loki was incarcerated for several days while we retrieved the Tesseract with Dr. Selvig's help and fitted it into a case that would allow for teleportation. Thor and Loki are at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters preparing to leave, now," Steve explained, sounding unusually knowledgeable on the Asgardians.

Steve's eyes were hopeful. "We would like you to be present when they leave."

"Why me?" I responded immediately, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah." He smiled at me. "Without your help we wouldn't have been able to get thousands of civilians to safety, and destroy the alien army. You gave us valuable information, you helped to save Tony..."

"But I nearly shot you. And I was on their side," I countered, refusing to accept any credit. "I don't have any superpowers, I didn't really do anything."

"Your mind wasn't your own," Steve interjected. "In the beginning, you helped to stop the army, you helped Tony subdue Loki...you're plenty valuable, Elle. Don't think you aren't."

I blinked, surprised by his praise. "Thanks, Steve."

"Will you come?"

"Um...sure, just let me know-"

He cut me off. "They're leaving now."

I frowned. "Well...I'm sorry, but I'm in the middle of-"

"You go ahead, Elle," Katie's voice said softly behind me, and I turned around, embarrassed that she was there. She leaned on the door, smiling sadly. "We'll be here."

"I...Katie, I really don't have to, it was just an offer," I said hastily. "I know you're busy making dinner and everything. I don't want you waste food."

"You'll be gone for an hour, tops," Steve tried. "We only want everyone to be there to see them gone, and then another agent will bring you back home. We're sorry to interrupt you, ma'am," he added, leaning around me to look at Katie. "We'll bring her back safe and sound."

"I understand." Katie's eyes were sympathetic. "You go on. We'll keep the food nice and hot for you when you get back."

I swallowed past a sudden lump in my throat, feeling grateful that Katie had decided to accept my career. "Thank you."

* * *

It felt weird to wear my uniform for the first time in days. I hadn't missed the spandex at all. The pressure of the suit on my thigh was a little uncomfortable, but I managed.

Steve and I sat in the back of the large SUV, while Kat sat in the middle, unusually quiet. Two guards occupied the driver and passenger's seat. All of us were silent during the ride. Steve was in the middle of some deep thinking, his chin resting on his hand as all of New York flew by us. He still looked upset with himself. I wanted to tell him that he wasn't at fault for anything. How else was he supposed to rid me of Loki's mind control without knocking me out?

I couldn't deny that my anxiety grew with each mile. For the first time in days, I was about to see Loki again. So much had happened that I didn't know what to make of it.

Confronting a killer in the dark depths of the boiler room. Being kidnapped and taken to a remote location. Escaping, until to be smothered with chloroform, Kidnapped again, experience the small amount of humanity in him, deny him my mind, only for him to take it, and turn me against everyone I know. And then, when I'm at my weakest, a forced kiss to distract me until he stabs a dagger into my leg until I nearly bleed to death.

How was I supposed to think of this...alien, this Asgardian, this...Loki?

Undoubtedly, I was wary of seeing him again.

The SUV took us to Central Park, a location that surprised me because it was generally so open. I had only been once when I was child, but I didn't remember much of it. So the large, grand trees that surrounded the park amazed me. The New York City skies were as clear as could be, with not a cloud in the sky. Children parked in the sandboxes in the heart of the park, with parents chatting animatedly, their eyes still trained on their children. A young woman sat on a wooden bench, reading a book and sipping a drink through her Starbucks coffee cup. An elderly coupled walked down a path together, holding hands as they shuffled along, deeper into the trees.

For a moment, it occurred to me that maybe, this would be my life. There was no doubt that I would still return to S.H.I.E.L.D, but at least on the weekends, and during my free time, I would be able to spend them with Katie and Megan.

The guard parked the car in the middle of what appeared to be a plaza, with tan and red bricks all designed in an intricate pattern. Another black SUV was waiting for us. Around the plaza, I noticed a few dark uniforms, which indicated that there were agents and guards supervising the operation.

A dark red convertible zoomed past us and came to a dramatic stop at the other side of the plaza, and a wry smile tugged at my lips. I wasn't surprised to see Stark driving the car, but Banner was at his side. Natasha and Clint stood in the shadows of a tall oak tree, watching as Stark got out of the car. Steve climbed out of the SUV quietly, and walked over to a motorcycle, checking to make sure it was chained to the railing. He must've arrived here first, and then accompanied Fury to my house.

Sighing, I got out of the car and forced a smile for Tony, who clapped enthusiastically for my appearance. Dr. Banner waved at me shyly, exiting the convertible. Stark, Banner, Rogers, Clint and Natasha all began to make advances towards the center of the plaza. I chose to settle by the large oak tree, watching as they talked with each other quietly.

I exhaled and tapped my foot across the grass anxiously, wondering where Thor and Loki were. On cue, I held a whistle of wind above me indicated that something fast was moving and I tilted my head towards the sky, searching.

I held my breath as a dark dot began to descend towards the ground, and with a earth-shattering sound, Thor landed at the edge of the plaza. At his side was Loki.

"God of Thunder at his best," Banner murmured, rubbing his head. Thor was still dressed in his battle armor, wearing his breastplate and red cape. His eyes darted to his brother, who stood silently at his side, devoid of his helmet and scepter.

"Let's get this over with," Clint muttered darkly, stepping towards the two of them. In his hands, he held a golden cylinder, with the Tesseract glowing inside. Attached to either side of the cylinder were two handles.

Loki's eyes scanned the plaza dully, and then fell, as if he were expecting something. He looked around once more expectantly, and then looked past Clint, who nearly blocked him from my sight. His eyes stayed on me for a few moments, and then he stepped forward.

"And _where _are you going?" Steve laughed, stepping forward immediately and putting a hand on his chest.

"I wish to speak with Elliot," I heard him murmur from afar. "I have something for her."

"So do I," he snapped. Clint handed the Tesseract to Thor, who glanced at Loki suspiciously. "It's time you left this world. Our city needs to rebuild after what you've done."

"I only wish to speak with her," Loki responded, sounding frustrated. "I swear to you, all of you, that I will speak with her and return at once."

"I don't trust him," Banner spoke up, shaking his head. "Let's set the alien back to outer space." Loki then leaned around Clint, looking at me with pleading eyes. I narrowed mine, calculating. What could he possibly want?

I knew that I had my gun on me, and at best, eight of the most powerful people I'd ever met at his side. I leaned against the tree. "Let him speak."

All eight of them turned to face me, looking surprised. Clint and Natasha shrugged and stepped to the side. Banner played with his jacket buttons nervously, Stark rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. Steve merely frowned at me. Fury waved his hand, letting Loki walk.

Thor's blue eyes warned me to be careful, but he let go of Loki's arm, allowing him to take careful steps towards me. As he walked closer, I tensed my muscles, allowing my senses to heighten. It was a natural reaction.

Loki put up his hands in an action of surrender, his eyes careful. I kept completely still and chose not to react to his motion. He took a few steps closer into the grass, and then lowered his arms with a heavy sigh, watching me.

"What do you want?" I asked softly.

"I want to apologize. I am sorry for my actions," he said simply.

"Are you now?" I snorted, looking away from him at a tree branch. "This is something completely unexpected. The great God of Mischief abandons his mischievous ways for a pathetic apology to the weakling mortal?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Not accepted. It's time for you to go back to Asgard."

"I only stabbed you to save you from the Chitauri. You would not listen," he responded. "My mind was not my own," Loki continued, looking ashamed of himself. "The Tesseract and the Chitauri army overwhelmed my mind and filled with me with dark thoughts. I reckoned with a force I could not control."

"Like your mind was being controlled?" I asked coldly. His eyes fell.

"Yes," he answered. "Like mind-control."

"Doesn't feel nice, does it?" I stated rudely. "Not being able to think for yourself, or move for yourself."

"No."

Loki was allowing me to verbally abuse him for all that he'd done to me, and the others, and he appeared that he was willing to take it. I was taken aback by his change in behavior. He raised his eyes to me, and I noticed that they were no longer a deep emerald...they appeared lighter than usual, as if he were free of something.

I began to relax a little. Perhaps he was telling the truth.

"I am aware that you will probably...never forget what I've done to you. But I wanted to apologize and give you something. It is a gift," he explained, reaching for his neck. For a moment, he smiled, looking embarrassed. "It isn't another kiss."

My cheeks warmed and I lowered my eyes at the thought of it. The sound of something clinking together reached my ears and I lifted my eyes to see him dangling a necklace in front of me. The chain looked familiar. It was mine.

Instead of a silver disk, a triangle blue stone hung in the middle.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"It is carved from one of the rarest stones in Alfheim," the Asgardian said very softly, stepping closer to me. "It is a gift, for you. Please accept it. You may destroy it later, when I'm gone, if you wish," he added, leaning towards me. I kept still, hoping that Loki was enough to block me from the view of the others. His hands fastened the necklace around me firmly, and then he withdrew his hands, a sad smile on his lips again.

"This is who I am, Elliot," he murmured. "What you saw...I'm not like that. And...I am sorry."

I played with the blue stone, which was smooth and polished. "Perhaps in time." _Or not. How long will it take my leg to heal?_

"Loki," Thor called warningly. "Time is slipping through our fingers. We must go."

Loki, God of Mischief, fixed me with one more look as he retreated. His emerald eyes burned into mine as he took slow steps backward. "Farewell," he whispered.

For a few moments, I felt my heart constrict and my throat tightened as I watched Natasha handcuff him. Thor attached a grey muzzle around his mouth, and attempted to escort him to the center of the plaza, but Loki jerked his arm away roughly.

It almost felt like I was going to...miss him. Almost. My aching heart was enough of an indication that I was going to miss him. A little. The few minutes I had with him convinced me that some part of him was human, whether or not he accepted it. Thor handed one end of the Tesseract to Loki, and he grasped the handle slowly with as much of his hand he could.

"Farewell," Thor said, looking at the Avengers. "Perhaps we shall meet again one day."

Loki eyes flickered up to mine once more, and warning bells went off in my head when I saw that familiar look of mischief in his eyes. Thor activated his side of the Tesseract, nodding to Stark in acknowledgement. A soft blue glow caught my eye, and I looked down to see that the blue necklace was glowing.

_This blue stone contains a fragment of the Tesseract._

"STEVE!" I screamed immediately, reaching for the necklace. He turned around with surprise, and then his eyes widened when he saw me, struggling to remove the chain from my neck. He began sprinting across the plaza towards me, reaching his out his hand, prepared to break it in two while I struggled to get it off my neck. The chain felt tighter than usual around my neck. _I need to get it off! Dammit!_

My eyes slid to Loki desperately, while Steve barreled towards me. Thor turned around to see what the commotion was, and then his eyes expanded as far as they could.

"**LOKI, NO**!"

It was too late. A sparkle of mischief in his eyes indicated that this was his final plan he had for me, all this time. Steve was no more than a hair's breadth from my side before Loki turned the handle on the Tesseract, sending the three of them back to Asgard.


	33. author's note

hello, my dears. :) i hope you all enjoyed the story and don't hate me (too much) for the nasty cliffhanger (they're so much fun!).

i am going to start a new story and it will pick up where the last one left off! i will create a brand new story on the sight because i feel that this one was a little too long, chapter-wise. i'm going to change the POV to give some insight into the other characters' emotions, and just to tell the story better. and the chapters will be longer!

it gets even better, i promise. will try to have the first chapter up by the end of the day friday!

~ kbells 6873

(please be aware, i have changed my name to lightofthenine).

thanks!


End file.
